Timeleap no Jutsu!
by StValentineSt
Summary: This is a story of a girl who had the misfortune to get hit by lightning, end up in an anime she didn't like to watch and even get the hots for a homicidal lunatic going by the name of Itachi Uchiha... Yep. This is one crazy story. My story.
1. The First Encounter

**While I am busy trying to fix the ending of Stalemate, I thought I might post one of my older works on Itachi Uchiha that I am trying to rewrite now. The characters might get a bit OOC at times and I apologize for that, but the story is supposed to be a comedy, so no hard feelings, ok? ^^ Well, enjoy the first chapter and don't forget to leave a review!**

* * *

I sighed, flipping through the TV channels. I still had about an hour till the party I was going to attend, so having nothing to do I decided to watch TV. Sadly enough, there was nothing to watch. I sighed again – I really didn't want to go anywhere, but the thing was, I had promised to. But it was raining as hell. The storm raged outside, with lightning and thunder and all. Not that I was scared of it. Though it would be fun if something happened and I had an excuse not to go.

I smiled, "Waah, that would be so awesome!"

With another click I changed the channel again and paused, seeing that it showed Naruto. For a few minutes I simply watched it with my brow furrowed slightly, trying to realize which episode this one was, but I couldn't get it yet. I used to watch it before, but then I got totally bored of it. I found some of the characters really stupid and annoying. All of my friends were going nuts over some guys like Itachi, Sasuke or Kakashi, while I, on the other hand, found one to be a homicide lunatic, the other an overly depressed kid and the last one was even worse - a completely tardy pervert!

I was just about to change the channel again when the lightning with thunder stroke, the TV screen flickered and the movie seemed to freeze on spot. I kept pressing the channel up button on the remote, but it didn't work. I cursed under my breath and pressed all the buttons on the remote control I could find, but nothing was happening.

"Man, not now!.. Come on, play, play, play!" Frustrated, I banged the TV remote on the sofa. "Damn... "

Then, I got up and came up closer to the TV. A screenshot of a dark green forest was on.

"Geez... Why me?! Damn it!"

I kicked the poor TV lightly with my foot and bent down to unplug it when suddenly lightning flashed in the sky again and thunder was heard right above my house. My hand was already on the plug and I felt a sharp pain as electricity ran over my body. My mind became blank immediately as darkness engulfed me.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling my head hurt and sat up. I glanced around in slight shock as it seemed that I was in some kind of a forest. I shook my head vigorously and then regretted it right away as the pain scorched through it. I sat calmly for a while till it ceased and then looked around again. There really was no mistake - I was in a middle of the forest. _'How did I get here?..'_ I looked around once again, looking for clues. _'Man, I can't remember anything. Is this like... after the party? How much did I drink?!'_

I got up a bit wobbling and looked down at myself; I was wearing my jeans and a sleeveless blouse. Same clothes I wore at home. I shook my head. _'Just what in the world?..' _Then, a scream came from somewhere in the forest and I flinched. _'And what was THAT?!'_ I narrowed my eyes in that direction, but the greeneries of the forest obstructed my view and so I went forth, making my way through shrubs and trees.

Come to think of it, the forest was pretty nice, lots of green grass and shrubs, high trees, some pink and white flowers blooming all around. I would have rather enjoyed walking across it if not for yet another scream and then sobbing sounds. I brushed away the branches of a low bush and came out into some kind of a clearing. A bit further there was a man on the ground. He was bleeding and sobbing something I couldn't even understand. But what struck me more than that was the other guy - a BLUE one. I could swear his skin was blue... Oh wait... not only that... he actually looked like a fish... a really overgrown fish... kind of like that sidekick guy of Itachi from Naruto show. I stared at him in disbelief. _'Wow, must be filming some movie or something... maybe a drama of cosplaying? Heh, pretty good. Realistic too...'_

Meanwhile the Kisame cosplaying guy brought out his huge sword, grinning. "Useless fool."

In a mere second he struck his sword down and a shriek filled the forest as the head of the man rolled down onto the ground. I stared wide eyed as I gasped, "Whoah! That's... way TOO realistic!"

Then, I blinked a few times, thinking maybe I could be dreaming and then pinched myself.

"Ouch!" It hurt.

"Seems like we have some company, Kisame."

I heard a soft voice and turned that way only to see another cosplay, this time, of course, Itachi. Well, who else? I stared at him for a minute... damn, was he realistic! Naruto fans cosplaying and killing each other... now that's something!

"I guess there are really some weird psychos out there in the world..." I said out loud.

"Huh?! Are you saying we're psychos?" Kisame took a few steps towards me swinging his sword.

"You know, even cosplaying has limits," I muttered, scowling at him.

"Cosplaying?! What's that? Are you making fun of me?!" I was obviously getting on his wrong side.

And that was NOT good, considering he was a psycho and had a huge sword with him. And when I say huge, I mean H-U-G-E.

So, I tried beaming a smile at him, "No, no, no! Of course not! I would never make fun of you, erm..." I had troubles remembering his name. "Erm... Mr. Fish guy?.."

I noticed his eyes fill with even more anger and tried to correct myself.

"No, that is... Mr... Shark guy... umm..." I realized this wasn't helping me at all. "Ummm... I really like fish, you know! Especially grilled...."

"GRILLED?!" The blue guy roared at me and I flinched. Maybe I shouldn't have said that one last sentence...

"NO!..." I screamed, flailing my hands sideways. "Umm... living ones are the best, of course... swimming around and around... just... swimming?.."

I fell silent as the blue guy readied his sword and I felt like I had just dug out my own grave. Meanwhile, Itachi was watching me with a slight interest as he found my stupid little chat a bit amusing. I, of course, was not having any fun as I finally realized I was quite in a dreadful situation.

"Ummm... look, I know we started on the wrong side of each other, but really... I have nothing against you. Promise! Pinky swear!" I tried to somehow get myself out of this alive, but, once again, my tongue miserably failed me. "I mean, sidekicks are really cool! Really!"

"Side...side..." Poor Kisame was getting the shock of his life as Itachi's eyes widened in sheer surprise and he could hardly hold a light chuckle coming from deep within his chest.

"Side..." Kisame was still stuttering and I decided to be as kind as to help him out.

"Sidekick?"

Of course, that didn't help much as Kisame growled at me in rage shouting, "I KNOW IT MYSELF!"

"U-huh... Good for you," I smiled. "It's always nice to know your place."

Kisame growled in range as the color of his skin changed to a bright red, if it was even possible.

"YOU!!! YOU!!! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"

He shouted completely enraged and raised his sword, preparing to launch towards me.

"Gaaaah! No, no, wait! STOP!" I shouted closing my eyes, scared senseless. Nothing happened and I opened my eyes slowly...

"Waah!" Then, I screamed and fell on my butt.

Kisame was just a few steps away from me, his sword raised in midair, preparing to slice... well, me, most probably. I laughed out almost hysterically, "Haaahh... you didn't have to take that word for word."

Kisame stayed silent. I kept quiet as well, still sitting down on the ground, afraid to move. None of us did.

"Ummm... aren't you uncomfortable like that?" _'Heh, never thought he liked jokes like this.'_

He didn't move and said nothing. I glanced at Itachi. He was standing like before, looking at me. I began to have a bad feeling about this. I carefully and slowly rose to my feet, but no one said anything to me. Kisame continued to stand just like that. I waved my hand in front of his face, but nothing happened.

"This... is really weird. Guys, come on? Don't joke around..."

Silence.

"Come on!" I started feeling weird again. It's as if they were frozen.

"Hey!" I tried again. "It's not as if I say stop you must freeze like a movie or something... what, if I say slow motion you're gonna..."

I stopped talking at that moment as I noticed Kisame's foot move. I watched carefully as his leg rose like a centimeter. I kept watching the scene for maybe a few minutes as he moved slowly towards me. Like a movie in slow motion.

"Okaaayyy... Stop."

He stopped again. I stood silent. "So... I'm like... a remote control?"

"A remote control?.." I repeated and then started laughing like crazy till tears showed up in my eyes.

Finally, when I stopped, I sat down on the ground, trying to find an explanation. But the only one I COULD find, was that I was struck by lightning and was having a very weird dream. Or, I could have been dragged into the world of Naruto anime... yeah, right, like THAT could happen. I looked around and sighed. At the very least, this was a dream, where I dreamt of being dragged into the Naruto anime. I grinned - I was in a world of Naruto and had the absolute power to freeze the time!.. Mwahahahahahahah!!! I grinned evilly as thoughts flashed in my head at the speed of lightning and my eyes glistened mischievously. Might as well have some fun... I was still cackling all to myself as I walked towards Kisame, thinking of getting a little revenge on him. I snickered again, just thinking of their faces when they see THAT.

"Ok, so first things first. Let's get that sword."

As I was pretty tall, I didn't have troubles reaching for the sword, but I DID have troubles untangling Kisame's fingers form it. Finally, the sword fell on to the ground. I sighed and bent down to pick it up. Boy, was it heavy... I could hardly raise it. My initial idea was to throw it away somewhere in the bushes, but I realized that would take the whole day. I didn't have the strength to even raise it normally. After some struggle, I managed to drag it a bit away from Kisame and stuck it into the ground vertically. Lucky me, I didn't know that the sword Samehada was special and spikes would protrude if it was touched by someone else than Kisame. Even luckier for me, the spikes didn't protrude, because the time was stopped around me. Well, if I knew the sword was this dangerous, I'd never have touched it, but I didn't. I was not THAT huge of a Naruto fan. I sighed. My huge plan to make Kisame's sword disappear failed.

"Oh well, let's try something else."

I grinned again and walked to the dead man. I looked down at him. Maybe I should feel sad or scared, but I didn't really feel anything. Dead is dead. And he wasn't even real, was he? Just a character from some anime... A minor one too. I noticed a little bag with coins in it by the man and bent down to pick it up.

"The dead don't need money, do they?"

I grinned and put the sack into my jeans pocket. Then, I turned to Itachi, "Time to share, handsome!"

I walked to Itachi and raised his cloak, looking for his wallet. I soon found it and took all the coins I could find. I smirked as I thought I could be a perfect thief - no one would ever catch me!

"So then... what should I do now?" I looked around, sighing. This was a golden opportunity, how could I just leave like that?..

* * *

Itachi's POV:

I was having quite a fun time. Though the girl showed up practically out of nowhere, she was pretty brave talking like that. Kisame was so enraged I thought he was gonna burst from anger. I, on the other hand, found it to be quite amusing, which was a pretty rare occasion. Quite a pity it was gonna end soon as I noticed Kisame was already on the verge of blowing up. He raised his sword and launched forward to kill the girl. I decided it would be too troublesome to stop him as she was an unnecessary witness... but then, suddenly something happened. One minute, she was there, shouting something and then - nothing. I saw Kisame slash the air with his empty hand, as his sword with spikes protruded was stuck into the ground just below... Huh?! Forget that. What is THIS?! I looked amazed as I just noticed something really weird. The sword was decorated with flowers and there was a circle on the ground around Kisame... a circle of... PINK flowers?! I blinked a few times and shook my head trying to snap out of this weird illusion. Then, due to my movements, something fell from my head. I looked down. A flower... wreath?

"The... the hell?! What's with all the flowers?" I heard Kisame shout as he picked up his sword and tried untangling all the pink and white flowers on it.

He started swearing and tearing the poor flowers away as at the same time he looked around crazily. But really... what is this?.. When did all the flowers appear? I was standing in a middle of a flower circle as well and suddenly I felt really stupid. I mean... ME?! Itachi Uchicha? In the circle of PINK flowers? Well, there were some white ones too... But still... Then, I noticed something else even weirder.

"Kisame... Where's the girl?" I asked glancing around suspiciously.

"Huh?.."

We searched the area; yet there was no one here but us. The girl was gone. Moreover, I couldn't feel any presence... No, now that I think about it, I couldn't feel her presence from the very beginning... Either she was incredibly good at hiding her chakra or... or what? I stood, thoughts running through my head. She appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into thin air. And the flowers... Was all this done by her? But how?.. Impossible! It was merely a second, no, even less, until Kisame would have slashed her in two perfectly proportioned halves and yet... Where is she?.. With horror I realized the girl was gone and there was no way to trace her down. How?.. How did she do it?

I moved towards Kisame, who was staring at the flowers, confused and totally lost. Then, I noticed something else. The bag on my waist... was light. Too light. I took it out and opened up. My eyes widened in surprise as instead of coins, pink flowers fell out. Is this... her doing as well? But when? And how come... I didn't feel a thing? Just what in the world happened here?


	2. On the Run?

**Second chapter is up too, cause I just feel like it. :P I'd appreciate it if you pointed out any grammar or other mistakes you noticed that might have slipped through my eyes. Other than that, do enjoy. **

* * *

Giggling madly I walked through the forest. I had absolutely no idea where I was going, but I had decided the forest could not go on forever, could it? I had a bag of money and a super-power to stop the time if needed, though, actually, it was already stopped. I decided I should travel a bit further away from Itachi and the blue skinned guy I remembered to be called Kirame or Kisame or maybe Kisage or whatever his name was. I didn't want them to find me. Wouldn't be a pretty sight, would it? Thus, I was now walking through the forest in some completely random direction. I had also started to wonder about my weird power to stop time... Like, for example, how long it lasted, or how to allow the time to flow again... Though, I pretty much had an idea on how to unfreeze time, but still, there were many things I didn't know about it. But that was not the biggest problem I had. What was really making I me nervous was how to get back HOME. Still, I decided to first find some village or something, or maybe I was gonna walk out into the city, who knew. I could still hardly believe I was dragged away into Naruto world. It just seemed so fantastic to me. Simply unreal.

As I walked through the woods, I suddenly felt a gust of wind brush my face. I stopped and turned around. There was no wind before. Is the time moving again? I looked up at the trees, noticing their tops swing in the air. Yet, on the side of the forest I came out of, the treetops were still. I bent down and took a random rock. Then, I tossed it in the air and watched it fly up, then come down. But it never did. It stopped in midair. I quickly figured my time-stopping power had a territorial limit. So, on that side of the forest, time was frozen, yet, this side of the forest was normal. I shook my head. At least now I knew something more about my strange powers.

"Okay then, let's try to unfreeze the time," I smiled as I breathed in and breathed out slowly. I was feeling a bit funny as I whispered, "Play."

The rock that was stuck in the middle of the air immediately fell down to the ground with a heavy thump. I sighed – my theory about the remote control was correct after all. Then, I turned around and continued on walking, wandering whether I was right to let the time flow again. Would Itachi and his sidekick Ki-something catch up to me? I sighed once again, as I pronounced the word "Stop" again. Just in case they were heading this way too. If they did, they'd freeze the moment they entered this zone. I figured my power stopped time around me in a shape of a circle. It was a pity I didn't know the diameter... Then, I smiled. At least, I could find it out. And thus, I started counting steps as I walked forward.

* 2 hours later *

I felt completely exhausted as I sat down by the bar, putting my head down on the bar table. I heard someone chuckle as a man asked if I cared for a drink.

I nodded. "Do you have some orange juice?"

"Wha..? Orange juice?! Bwahahahahh!.." The barmen started laughing. "This is a bar, girlie!"

I sighed: "Fine, fine. Beer then."

"Right away, missy," the barmen laughed and left for the beer.

He came back in a few minutes. I took my beer and went to a table in a corner of the room. I sighed once again as I just remembered my little adventures in the forest. Well, more like a seemingly never-ending journey through the forest with an incredibly amusing activity of counting my steps.

I had a sip of my beer as I reminiscent of how I lost track of it by the 642nd step... or was it 646th?.. I then tried taking the time of my travel; so that I could determine the amount of kilometers I walked from the time. Well, to cut it short, my guess was that the diameter of my power reached up to about 1 kilometer. I decided it was quite much and for now it was enough for me to stay alive if something happened.

I took another sip of my beer, which I found to be utterly disgusting. Still, after a few hours of walking I wanted to sit down for a bit. I thought maybe I could find some hotel later on and get a well deserved rest before figuring out what exactly to do. In the meantime, I hugged the mug with my beer and watched the locals happily drinking their money away. Then, my attention was drawn by a creak of doors and with horror I recognized the two men who walked in. Right now I really wanted to simply sink into the wooden chair I was sitting on as I watched the two make their way towards the bar. _'What rotten luck...'_ I cursed in my mind as I lifted my mug trying to somehow hide behind it, which was, of course, futile. _'Please, God, or whoever there is in the Heavens high above, please, just don't let them see me...'_ I carefully peeked at the pair, still trying to hold the mug in front of my face and praying this corner was dim enough. Yet, Miss Luck was not on my side today. I suddenly flinched and my heart skipped a beat, when some huge hand landed right in front of me on the table and a hoarse voice shouted so loud it was clearly audible even in the noise of a customer-full bar.

"Looky here! What a nice lady we have! Bwahahah! You're a nice lady, eh?"

With horror I looked up at some drunkard, who decided I would do nicely for his new prey. He looked me up and down as if evaluating and then grinned, revealing his mouth lacking some teeth.

_'Gross...' _I sighed mentally.

"Nice figure we have here, eh?.."

I managed to form a smile on my lips as I mentally sent him to a place of no return. With such a ruckus those two will certainly notice me. I lowered my mug and took a quick peek at the pair only to have my eyes meet with a cold stare of dark black eyes.

* * *

Itachi's POV:

After getting rid of the flowers on Kisame's sword, we made our way to the nearest village. Though we fulfilled our mission, now we had another trouble – a girl, who saw us murder the leader of the Hogi clan and even managed to get away alive. There was no way we could trace her following her chakra as she quite masterfully hid it. Still, I figured she'd go for the nearest village, so we headed full-speed towards it. There was no other choice than to check all of the villages around. Half of the way to the village Kisame cursed the poor girl for tricking him and the other half he thought of different ways of killing her. Really, he must have had quite a shock being called a sidekick of mine. I chuckled lightly remembering my partner's face when he heard it. That girl really was something to make even someone like me laugh. Still, I had some things to ask her too.

At the gates of the village we split up and searched for the girl around the village. We met up after half an hour, having found nothing. No one saw her and as we didn't even know a thing about her, it made our search even harder. I was about to leave for another village, but Kisame decided to go for a quick drink first. We went into some random bar and headed towards the bartender.

Then, there was a loud bang and I heard someone shout: "Looky here! What a nice lady we have! Bwahahah! You're a nice lady, eh?"

Tch, some drunkard, apparently. Kisame was buying the drinks with some money he still had left. It seems like our little thief only stole from me and the Hogi clan leader. For some reason, Kisame still had a few coins left. Really now, if I ever catch her, and I know I WILL, I'll make sure she pays for stealing from me...

"Nice figure we have here, eh?.."

I heard the drunkard shout again and turned my head to look at whom he was shouting. Quite surprisingly my eyes met up with another pair of eyes of a deep violet color. I saw them widen in somewhat I'd even call fear and only then did I recognize the face of a girl I was staring at. The very same one we were looking for. I grinned slightly as I started making my way towards her. The girl shot up and tried walking away, but the drunkard caught her by her arm, "HEH?! Where are you going, girly?.."

"Let go, you pig!" The girl shouted and tried pulling her arm away.

I saw the drunkard squeeze her arm in anger and the girl winced in pain. By that time I was already near them. "Would you mind letting her go?"

"Heh?! Is she your woman or what?" The drunk man turned to me, still not letting go of the girl's arm.

I raised a brow, contemplating on what he said, while the girl practically screamed her heart out, "WHAT?! No, no, no way! Not even if he was the last living man on the whole Earth! Are you a pervert or something?! Jeez!!! And let go already!"

She suddenly kicked the drunken man where the sun doesn't shine and he let go of her in surprise, cursing under his breath.

I smiled slightly as I watched the girl look at her arm in disgust. "Damn, that's gonna be one huge bruise..."

"Oh, I'll make it disappear!" I heard Kisame growl as he started taking out his sword, apparently, finally having noticed her.

The girl looked at him fearfully as she tried smiling at him. "H-hi..."

"Not now, Kisame," I said, at the same time noticing the drunken man get up.

As he raised his head, his eyes jotting around crazily, I moved towards him in a flash and punched hard in the stomach. He fell down unconscious.

"Wow! Awesome..." I heard the girl say as I turned around.

Kisame was sulking behind her, knowing well not to go against my words.

I stepped towards the girl. "We need to talk."

"Oh. What about?"

She was putting on an innocent act. I grinned a bit. She was quite brave, I must say. "Let's go out first."

I took her by her arm, dragging her outside. There were too many people here. Yet, at that time I still had no idea who I was dealing with.

* * *

Itachi started to drag me out by my arm and I frantically tried to think of a plan to get away. Then, I remembered I could stop the time. _'Really, why didn't I think of it before?.. I just need to get him to let go of my arm.'_ I looked at Itachi's emotionless face, as the two of us with Kisame tailing behind exited the bar.

"Umm... Can you let go of my arm?" I asked.

Silence. He was still dragging me across the street.

"Hello?!"

No response.

"HEY!" I shouted.

"Shut up, girl, before you regret it," I heard him coldly hiss at me and Kisame chuckled, apparently content with the current situation.

Now I got really angry as a new plan was born in my head. I looked around and grinned seeing the background was perfect. The street was full of people – young and elderly men, elderly women and middle-aged mothers with their small children, walking around. Simply PERFECT.

I suddenly halted with all my might and screamed at the top of my lungs: "Noooooo! My poor BABY!"

I especially emphasized the word 'baby', noticing I got the attention of the villagers as most of them stopped and looked at me. Itachi also stopped, surprised at my sudden scream. He still didn't realize what was going on. Taking the chance, I flopped down on the ground, and hugged Itachi's leg with my left hand as my right one was still in his grip. Itachi stood there shocked, watching me scream again, hugging his leg.

"Don't leave me and my baby! Please! Pleaaaase..."


	3. The Frivolous Daddy

**I already got some reviews! Yay! * does a happy dance * Well, thanks very much for reviewing, guys! Hopefully, this one will bring a smile to your faces as well. ;) Also, I'm not sure about the living necessities in the Naruto world, so I simply made up that they have a somewhat normal bath (though I highly doubt it now, perhaps, they only have public baths and hot springs .). **

* * *

"Don't leave me and my baby! Please! Pleaaaase..."

I gripped Itachi's leg even tighter, pretending to cry now as I continued to scream. "It's your baby too! Please, dear, don't leave us now! OUR BABY!!!"

I heard muffled whispers in the streets as Itachi hissed at me to get up.

I got up obediently and immediately clutched at his chest area, pretending to weep now. "Waaaaahh! My baby... ugh... noooo... waaaaaahhhh..."

"What... what are you doing?!" Itachi hissed at me again but at the same time I heard a woman's voice.

"Oh, dear... what happened?"

And another one, a high pitched voice, most probably of an elderly woman. "Don't make your girl cry, young man!"

I felt Itachi's grip lighten and quickly pulled my arm away, turning from Itachi to some woman and hugging on to her, while still continuing to weep.

"He says... he says... he doesn't want our BABY!!!" I screamed into the woman's chest.

I heard gasps all around.

"Oh god..."

"How could he?!"

"What a bastard..."

"He says he's leaving me and my baby..." I raised my head and looked at the woman's face, real tears rolling down my cheeks now. Yep, I had a talent for false tears.

The woman gasped and patted my head. "Don't cry now, don't cry... it's alright..."

"Leaving a young mother and his child..." Someone whispered disgusted.

"My God..."

I heard similar whispers all around me and then an angry pitchy voice of the same elderly woman, "You little rascal!"

I heard a thump and Itachi say "Ouch!".

I figured the woman must have hit him.

"When I was young, men took responsibility! And they wouldn't make a young and beautiful girl cry like that!" she continued in that same pitchy angry voice.

I heard agreeing shouts "Yeah, that's right!", "Be a man, you bastard!", and another thump.

"I... there is no damn baby!" I heard Itachi shout as Kisame helped him.

"Yeah, she's just lying!"

I pulled away from the woman and faced Itachi, tears now rolling down like a fountain.

"Are you saying it's not your baby?! After everything we've been through! I gave you everything I had! I even left home and eloped with you!!! You said you loved me!.. Waaah..."

I fell to my knees, hugging myself, while sobbing.

"You were my first man ever... I gave everything to you... and you say... waaaahh... my poor baby... my poor son... what will I tell you, my little baby?.."

I continued to weep as the woman knelt beside me. "Now, now... oh, my dear child."

I heard some angry shouts of men too as dissatisfaction and anger filled the street.

"No... wait... that's..." I heard confused Itachi stutter as I chuckled involuntarily, just imagining his face right now.

"Shameless!"

"What a bastard..."

I heard shouts all around as Itachi hissed at me venomously, "I'll get you for this!.."

In a blink of an eye he disappeared together with Kisame. I, on the other hand, was surrounded by the sympathizing villagers, ready to help me out in any way they could. I grinned to myself, having gotten rid of the infamous Itachi Uchiha. And quite skillfully, actually. The woman from earlier helped me up, trying to comfort me with her kind words. I thanked her and the other villagers and said my goodbyes after more than half an hour of refusing to go spend the night at someone's house.

I sighed as I finally managed to get away from the kind-hearted villagers. Now all I had to do was find a hotel or something similar where I could spend the night as it was getting darker by now. I walked around the town until I came across something that looked like an inn. I went in and got a room for myself. Of course, I paid with the stolen money. Good thing I was smart enough to help myself to some money from Itachi's pockets. I went upstairs and unlocked the room with an old fashioned metal key.

"Geez, what age is this?.. "

I sighed and looked around the room, closing the doors behind me. There was a bed in the corner of the room and a table with a chair by it. On my left there was another door and I figured that should be the bathroom. I took out the money bag and put it on the table as I turned to the bathroom and entered, curious how it looked like.

'_Maybe I should get a shower or a bath? It's been some day I've had.'_

I looked around the bathroom with all the main necessities. Actually, the room was pretty good and right now I didn't really care much for its design or condition. The important thing was that it had a bed and a bath. I poured a bathtub full of water and let myself enjoy the pleasure of having a bath. It was sooo relaxing. I closed my eyes as I dozed off, dreaming how wonderful it would be to have a few aromatic candles in here. Yet, I wondered if such a thing even existed in Naruto world. After all, come to think of it, I did walk out into some kind of a medieval village. It's nice enough they have hot water and baths...

_'Hmmm... do they have electricity too?.. What about hairdryer?'_

I unconsciously touched my damp hair.

_'Nope, I think not.' _

I sighed. At least I'll have something to tell my friends and grandchildren. If I ever have any. I giggled as I remembered my little play just a few hours ago. Gosh, that was a great idea. I grinned happily as I reached for the soap. Quite surprisingly it had a wonderful scent and I realized it must contain some herbs or something. Anyhow, after 20 minutes or so I got off of the bath, wrapped up in a big towel, smiling to myself and for the first time today feeling really happy. I took a smaller towel and began to carefully and gently dry my long pitch black hair. Yep, my hair was really long and sometimes I even thought of cutting it, but then again – why cut it if it is already this long? I halted and looked in a cracked mirror at my reflection. My face was somewhat attractive, nothing special, yet, people sometimes found me quite charming. My big eyes were of a strange blue or pale grey color. Incomprehensible, I may say. That's why I liked wearing contact lenses.

I took the contact lenses from the table in the bathroom, where I left them before and put it in, making my eyes a deep violet shade once again. I smiled to myself in a mirror and turned around to leave, still wrapped in the towel and holding the other one in my hands. I turned the door knob and opened the door, stepping into the room; yet, the moment I entered it, I almost had a heart attack... On my bed there lay an awfully familiar man of dark black hair and red eyes, smirking at me.

"Oh... Nice view," he grinned at me and that's when I got wild...


	4. The Mysterious Jutsu

**Again, thanks' for the reviews, everyone! They make my heart flutter in joy XD And my mind edit and post the chapters quickly! :P Well, enjoy this one!**

* * *

"Oh... Nice view," he grinned at me and that's when I got wild...

I screamed at the top of my lungs as I threw the towel I had in my hands at Itachi.

He easily caught it, smirking. "So not lady-like."

"You... YOU PERVERT! Bastard, peeping tom! Pervert, pervert, pervert!!!" I screamed again out of frustration and anger, yet, soon I felt myself pinned to the wall by Itachi, his strong hands pressing my down on my wrists. I could feel his masculine scent tickle my nose and his coat brushed against my towel.

"Did you really think you'll get away with it?" he hissed at me.

I stared back at his angry red eyes with strangely shaped black pupils and despite the situation I was in, only one thought came to my mind. "How someone can like you is beyond me..."

"Huh?" I could see how anger and rage in his eyes was changed by confusion.

"I'm seeing you for the third time in my life and I think I'm already starting to hate you," I stated smugly as I kept staring at him.

Itachi only chuckled as he strengthened his grip on my wrists, "Do you know what I could do to you?"

I looked away as I turned my head, biting my lower lip.

"Ummm... let me go?" I turned to Itachi again, putting on a puppy look on my face. "Pretty please… with a cherry on top?"

"Heh..." Itachi snickered. "Do you even know who I am?"

"Oh yeah, that I know," I smiled. "The infamous Itachi Uchiha, the homicidal maniac who killed all his clan except for his brother Sasuke, who, I must say, is totally emo... By the way, where's your fish pet?.. He could take a swim in my bath..." I chuckled.

Itachi was staring at me a bit surprised.

"Do you not realize I could kill you anytime?"

I looked into his eyes as I whispered, "Could I first get dressed, please? I don't wanna die with only a towel on my precious body..."

Suddenly, Itachi chuckled as he let go of me and I sighed, rubbing my wrists. His grip was quite painful and I was pretty much sure there would be bruises quite soon.

"Are you not afraid of me at all?" I heard the soft voice of Itachi as I turned to enter the bathroom.

I halted and half turned to him. "If you wanted to, you would have killed me long ago. The fact that I'm still alive means you want something from me and, truth be said; right now I'm too tired to run away once more."

With that, I entered the bathroom and picked up my clothes. It's a pity I didn't have any other clothes. Oh well, better than nothing. I put on my clothes and exited the bathroom. Itachi was sitting on my bed, watching my every move as I stepped outside and went towards him.

"Say, are there any clothes shop around? I really need a change of clothes..." I asked, but got no answer.

I picked up the smaller towel that lay on the bed, where Itachi threw it, and started drying my damp hair. Itachi kept silent as he stared at how I gently dried my long hair. I kept quiet as well, for I had no idea what to say to him. After all, isn't he just a fictional character? I glanced at Itachi, who was still watching me intently, as I now was done with the drying part and was starting to braid it.

"Wanna help?" I asked and smiled, seeing his somewhat confused face. The anime showed none of those expressions. '_I guess he's kind of cute like that.'_

I chuckled as Itachi stared at my long hair now.

"Long hair is impractical," he finally said.

I raised a brow. '_Great, I'm being lectured by a fictional anime character...'_

"Look who's talking," I scoffed in reply. "Was that from personal experience?"

Now it was Itachi's turn to raise a brow. He then smirked. "I find you amusing, girl."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I continued to braid my hair, moving my fingers in swift graceful motions.

"Tell me, girl, what is your name?"

I looked up at Itachi, for a moment pausing my braiding work. I cocked my head to one side and then sighed.

"You can call me Liz."

"Liz?" Itachi echoed.

"Yep, Liz."

"Strange name," he whispered silently.

"Hey, I heard that," I pouted, yet continued with the hair braiding. "It's a shortening of my real name, and believe me, you don't wanna hear it."

"Why not?"

"Cause I don't want you to hear it."

"Why?"

"Oh my, aren't you the curious one?" I asked sarcastically as I took out a ribbon from my jeans pocket and tied the end of my braid.

"Why is your hair so long?" He asked and I looked up at Itachi a bit surprised.

"Personal reasons."

I shook my head vigorously and the braid fell on my back while the long bangs I didn't manage to braid fell to the right side of my face.

"What reasons?"

"Look, Mr. Curious, ask what you came here to ask and then leave me alone. Preferably, as fast as you can."

Itachi only smirked at me. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You seem to know too much. You saw us kill a man."

I scoffed. "Like I care. He wasn't the first and definitely not the last one."

Itachi cocked a brow as he smiled lightly, "Then tell me, how did you do that trick with the flowers?"

"Flowers?" I repeated his question. '_Damn it, to hell with it if I know how I did it.'_

"Yes, the flowers," Itachi narrowed his eyes as he watched me closely.

I looked back at him too, refusing to break the eye contact.

"We can do this the nice way or the hard way. Either one, I'll get the answer from you," he then hissed at me and this time I could see it in his eyes he was not joking.

This man could easily kill me, if only the information in the anime was right. And, if I could actually die in here, that is. Not that I was very eager to try it out. I turned away, biting my lip slightly, contemplating on my scarce choices. Lie or die. I'd prefer to tell a lie... but it had to be a believable one. Itachi watched me curiously as I desperately tried to think of a way out. I then remembered this is Naruto's world – a world full of ninjas and incredible techniques. I grinned as I realized my answer. '_Well, why not? I'm in deep shit already, anyway.'_

I turned to Itachi and smiled. "Fine, I'll tell you. It's a secret technique."

"I have guessed that much," Itachi continued to observe me.

"Yes... well... I call it... well..." I stuttered. _'Wait... What do I call it?!'_ I panicked in my head as I blurted out a nonsensical name. "Time-leap no Jutsu!"

"Time-leap no Jutsu?.." Itachi repeated after me in slight disbelief. "Is such a thing even possible?"

"You don't believe me?" I raised a brow as I chuckled. "Fine with me. Want some proof?"

"Proof?"

"Yeah, proof," I smirked at him. "Close your eyes for a mere second and when you open them, it will be morning."

"I am not closing my eyes," Itachi stated coldly.

"Why? Is the notorious Itachi Uchiha scared?"

"No. I simply do not think it is wise to close my eyes in front of an enemy."

"Ohhh... so now I'm an enemy," I scoffed.

"Anyone who is not my friend is a potential enemy."

"Do you even have friends?" I asked in disbelief.

"No."

"Thought so," I rolled my eyes.

'_Still, I have to get away from him somehow. And I'm dead tired...' _I sighed mentally as my head was starting to hurt.

"Say... would it be possible to continue this conversation in the morning? After I get some sleep?" I asked hopefully.

"No," Itachi stated, watching me closely. "Tell me about your jutsu."

I raised a brow, "Why?"

I saw anger flash in Itachi's eyes and I realized this was no joke. Either talk or die. Great.

"Fine. What do you want to know?" I gritted my teeth in anger.

"Everything," I saw Itachi's eyes narrow.

I sighed, scratching my head. '_Damn, this is getting on my nerves. Why am I even doing what he says? He's a fictional character, damn it! He's not even real!!!'_

"I'm waiting," I heard Itachi hiss and that's when I lost it again.

I shot up form the chair enraged as I pointed my finger at Itachi: "You know what, this day has not been that easy for me – I'm stranded far away from my damn home, I don't know even a living soul in this stupid place, I'm dead tired and having a conversation with a homicidal maniac, who barged in when I was having a shower only to interrogate me! So, I say, go to hell!"

I saw how Itachi's eyes widened in shock and then it was replaced by rage. I was sure he was about to jump on me ready to tear my heart out.

"You wanna know my jutsu?! Fine, see it from the front seats, idiot! Stop!" I screamed the magical word just in time and Itachi halted in midair, as he was apparently jumping towards me.

Yep, I was born under a lucky star. Enraged I stepped closer to Itachi, screaming into his face. "How's that?! Huh?! HUH?! You damn psycho!"

I kicked him hard where the sun don't shine and stuck my tongue out at him. I then sighed and plopped down on the bed, feeling a lot better.

"See you in the morning, sunshine!"


	5. Experimenting

**Thank you, everyone, who reviewed and added the story to their favorites and alerts XD This means a lot to me, as you probably know. I'm glad you all find this story funny and yes, Itachi will be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. Mwahahaahaha! XD Yeah, well, his torture is not yet over, as you will see. There will be another classic pun waiting for him. * smirks * Anyways, this chapter is a tiny bit more serious as it is dedicated to explaining Liz's powers. ^^ Enjoy!**

* * *

I woke up early in the morning and sat up in the bed, stretching my arms. Then, my glance stopped by the frozen figure of Itachi and I sighed. '_So it wasn't just a dream... Darn.'_ I looked at Itachi once more as I shook my head and got up. I quickly washed my face in the bath and made sure I looked presentable enough. Then I grabbed my, ahem, Itachi's, ahem, bag of money that was still lying on the table and descended to the first floor. And that was when I suddenly realized what I've done.

"Oh, shit..."

Everyone at the inn was frozen. EVERYONE.

'_I bet they'll be surprised as hell when they see it's already morning. Wow, poor guys,"_ I snickered, casting aside any guilt I might have had. '_Blame Itachi, if you have to!_'

Suddenly, I smirked as a new idea popped into my head. Oh yes, he was gonna pay for yesterday. I chuckled as I searched the inn for something similar to a pen and a piece of paper.

"You are so gonna regret you even met me..."

I laughed out loud as I wrote down a little something on the piece of paper and ascended the stairs again.

* * *

10 minutes later I was walking down the streets with frozen villagers, thinking what I was to do now. Well, after what I've done to Itachi just now, he'll probably strangle me to death the next time he sees me. Or worse, he will use his stupid eye techniques on me, torturing me, yet once again, to death. Whoopie! I shook my head, sighing heavily as suddenly a thought struck me. '_Wait a minute, I too have a weapon. I just need to find out more about it. Actually, maybe I have other powers I don't even know. Maybe I can even go home, if I find the right... button?..'_ I chuckled. '_Fine, first things first. Let's experiment.'_

And so I spent some time, playing with the time stopping thingy and other buttons on the remote I could remember and soon made some useful conclusions:

1. Saying "Stop" freezes time in the radius of about 1 km.

2. Everyone inside the zone freezes for indefinite amount of time and there are no exceptions (well, except me, of course).

3. Simply touching the frozen objects does not make them move.

4. Saying "Play" enables the time to flow again. Touching a certain object while saying "Play" enables it (and only it) to move freely just like I do, while everything else stays frozen in time. (Proofed to be working with various animals. People not tested due to safety reasons, but theoretically it should work on them too). Saying "Stop" again freezes everyone once again, including the previously "freed" objects.

5. Saying "Pause" stops the time as well. Saying "Pause" again lets the time flow. (The difference between "Pause" and "Stop" not found. Yet.)

6. Touching a certain object and saying "Stop" or "Pause" freezes only that object (tested only on animals for safety reasons).

7. Saying "Slow" puts everyone in super sloooow motion. The radius is probably the same, 1 km.

8. Saying "Mute"... well, mutes everyone or that certain object.

9. Commands "Backward" and "Forward" either does nothing or I have failed to initiate them. Would be funny though.

I sighed.

"OK, one last experiment left."

I glanced around carefully and noted the villagers seemed a bit lost. Well, I bet they were. Just a minute ago it was evening and now, morning. And I have been freezing and unfreezing them for the last few hours. Maybe I shouldn't play with them like this too much. Then, I shook my head - one more button test left. The little red button at the top of the remote control. My heart was beating faster than usual as I had a slight hope of this one word taking me back home.

"Power," I whispered, with my eyes shut closed.

However, when I opened them, there was nothing around me anymore. Just... pure darkness. I looked around in confusion, but everywhere I did, was only pitch black darkness. I could not see any floor or walls, nothing. As if I was hanging in midair, even though when I stepped forward I didn't feel myself falling. Actually, I did not feel a thing. I was not even sure if I have actually made any movements.

"This... this is getting creepy," I whispered and suddenly froze in shock.

I could not hear it; though I was sure I said it out aloud. In my mind the words still rang again and again, but there was no real sound. My ears could not pick up anything.

"Hey, I said this is CREEPY!" I yelled it out this time, yet, no sound came out of my lips.

Was I even moving? I tried stepping forward, but I could not feel anything, not even a sound of a foot, reaching ground, came out. I tried shouting again, but once again, there was no sound. I tried listening as carefully as I could, but there was nothing. Simply nothing. I tried looking around again, as crazy thoughts ran in my head.

'_What is this? Where am I? Am I moving? Wait. Am… Am I even alive?.. No… No way… I can't hear even my own heart beating… my heart… my heart is not beating!'_

I panicked immediately and felt like I had to run, to get away from here. I moved my feet, I tried to run or, at least, I thought I was running, but where to? And... was I really running?.. Countless thoughts crossed my mind in a millisecond and I felt as if I was gonna loose myself.

_'No, no, no... Calm down... just say... just say it... will it work? I don't wanna be stuck here! Say it… but there is no sound here... Will it work?.. No, just say it.'_

"Power..."

In a flashing moment I was blinded by daylight. I started blinking my eyes unwillingly as the light hurt them. My ears where overrun with sounds. I had no idea there were so many sounds in the world... Cracking, chirping, rustling, human voices... I breathed in deeply as various scents reached up my nose. I could feel and hear my heart beating like crazy, as if it was about to jump out of my chest. I trembled as I sat down onto the ground, clutching the rough sand in my hands. I could feel it, the grains of sand, their rough texture against my soft skin... I raised my head and looked around at the colorful world, full of scents and sounds. I never knew how wonderful it was to feel... to have all the 5 senses back to me. And that place, whatever it was... it was empty.

I got up and dusted myself off, my heart still refusing to calm down, while I mentally noted:

10. Saying "Power" is scary as hell.

I breathed in a few times, indulging in the fresh air that ran through my nostrils.

_'I don't know what it was... but it might become my trump card in the future. But before I can use it, I must get used to it myself.'_

And so, I turned into a narrow alley and sat down onto the ground. I looked up at my wristwatch, checking the time. I was lucky I never parted with my watch. Last evening I even checked if the time was correct and it seemed the watch was working perfectly. I also still had my mobile phone. It rested in my jeans pocket. Yet, that was everything I had brought with myself from my world. The phone, of course, could not catch any signal. Yet, it still had some useful functions, and it was precious to me, so I refused to throw it out. After all, I was thinking of going back and I had no wish to buy a new mobile phone.

Anyway, I checked the time, braced myself, which was not that easy, and went into the Power off mode once again.

This time I knew I could get out of here whenever I wanted to, so I calmed down relatively quickly. Then, I sat down Turkish style, or that's what I thought I was doing. I figured this place was simply empty, as if there was nothing here... In other words, I was deprived of all my 5 senses. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The only thing that was left were my thoughts. And that just might be the scariest thing for an unsuspecting human. After all, what could be more horrifying than sheer emptiness and you alone in it with your wondrous mind?

Anyhow, I calmed myself down and started counting seconds slowly. I wanted to know how much time will have passed here compared to the real world. I also wondered what happened to my body. Did it disappear or was it only my mind that travelled here? Yet, there was no way to know it. At least, I haven't found one yet. So, I waited until I counted to 10 minutes and then came back to the real world. I blinked a few times, trying to remain calm as the chaos of sounds and smells raided my senses. The feeling was a bad as the first time and though and I realized it will take some time getting used to it. I wasn't even sure what was worse – the void of nothingness or the avalanche of senses after it. After I had calmed down, I looked down at my watch. The time was… still the same?

'_So... either the time stops here, or only mere seconds pass__,'_ I looked at the positions of the hour, minute, and second hands. _'Yep, only the second hand has moved. So then... one minute there equals one second here? Nice!__'_

Then, I cocked my brow in wonder. _'Hey, I could go there to sleep and when I come back, I will have lost... like... Ummm... 8 hours are... ugh, where's my calculator?'_ I took my mobile phone and started counting.

"Ok... so, 8 hours equals 480 minutes, which is 28 800 seconds. Oh my gosh... Oh wait, I don't need to count that. Silly me! So, if I spend 480 minutes in that hollow and dark and overall creepy place, only 480 seconds pass here. And that would be... 8 minutes?! No, no... you must be kidding me... OMG!!! I can save up so much time! I can definitely do my sleeping there and then I have all the 24 hours of the day for myself! Too bad it doesn't work back at home..."

* * *

Itachi's POV:

"Tell me about your jutsu," I watched the girl closely.

If she was telling the truth and she could leap through time as she wished... No, come to think of it, such an incredible technique would, indeed, explain everything. Meanwhile, the girl, Liz, if I'm correct, raised her brow as if in surprise.

"Why?"

What a stupid question. I glared at her, hoping it would be intimidating enough. I did not want to kill her yet. If she was not lying, she could prove to be quite useful.

"Fine. What do you want to know?" She grumbled.

"Everything," I narrowed my eyes, watching her.

The girl sighed, scratching her head.

"I'm waiting," I hissed as I was getting impatient. This girl was getting on my nerves, though I had to admit it, she was quite amusing. And pretty as well. Wait... Pretty?

Suddenly, the girl shot up form the chair and pointed her finger at me, shouting, "You know what, this day has not been that easy for me – I'm stranded far away from my damn home, I don't know even a living soul in this stupid place, I'm dead tired and having a conversation with a homicidal maniac, who barged in when I was having a shower only to interrogate me! So, I say, go to hell!"

My eyes widened in shock – no one has ever talked to me like that. She even called me... wait... what did she call me? A homicidal maniac?! I felt totally enraged as anger scorched through my soul and body.

"You wanna know my jutsu?! Fine, see it from the front seats, idiot!" She screamed at me as I jumped towards her, yet my hands grabbed only thin air as a thought crossed my mind, _'She's done it again.'_

Right as I landed on the ground, I felt immense pain in my crotch and bent down surprised, clutching myself. _'Damn her! She kicked me! She... kicked ME?!'_ I felt even more enraged as I shot up, looking around desperately. She was gone. Well, of course. She wouldn't wait around for me, now would she? Then, I noticed another thing and right away I knew the leader would like to see her. Yes, she could be a nice addition to the Akatsuki. As I looked out of the window, the sun was just rising. It was morning.

Without any further musings, I descended the stairs and went towards the barmen. I noticed the people seemed confused.

"Morning already?.."

"Man... How much did I drink?.."

"Urghh... My wife's gonna kill me!.."

I grinned. '_Oh?... So it's not her leaping through the time... More like... freezing everyone around? Well, this sounds good too.'_

I went towards the barmen as I greeted him. "Have you seen a girl with long black hair walk out of here?.."

The barmen only shook his head. "N-no... she just checked in not long ago... wait... that must have been last night... it seems to be morning already..." He looked at the window confused.

Then, he scratched his head as I grinned to myself. _'Poor chump. I at least know what is really going on.'_

Or so I thought when I suddenly noticed a muffled chuckling at the bar and whispers:

"Hey, hey... look at that guy over there."

"Oh my gosh...heheh..."

"Poor guy..."

"Hahah... that's harsh..."

'_What are they talking about?'_ I turned around, glaring at some of them. They turned away, snickering. Just then, I heard the barmen laugh. I was now getting pretty much irritated as I turned to him, glaring, "What is it?"

"N-nothing... hahah... you're really messed up, stranger."

He chuckled once again, turning away, but I grabbed his wrist, pressing it hard. "What is it?"

He looked at me scared as he motioned with his other hand at me. "Well... on your back..."

Surprised, I let go of his hand and looked over my shoulder, noticing a piece of paper on my back. I took off my cloak and looked at its back. There, a large piece of paper was stuck and something was written on it. As I quickly read the few words, rage instantly filled my eyes.

"Liz... you'll pay for this, I swear."

I tore the paper away from the cloak as I unconsciously crumpled it in my hand, yet, the inscription was burnt in my mind: 'I'm the biggest badass in the universe, so kick me! ^^'


	6. The Hell

And here's yet another update! ^^ Again, thank you, everyone for commenting and adding this story to your favorites and alerts! As a thank you, I'll try my hardest to keep the updates daily as all I need to do is reedit the chapters. Still, that does take some time XD

To GlassTier: Yes, I'm aware that Itachi is not all pure evil. Liz just is that kind of person who loves to make fun of others, but the two will have their moments. XD And I promise that things will be going quite the other way relatively soon as this is a love story, after all. Or, at the very least, an attempt to make one. :D

* * *

Feeling exhausted I sat down on some bench in what I considered to be the central plaza of the village and sighed. I felt so tired. I went in and out of the Power mode dozens of times trying to get used to it. And yet, it was still so creepy. Just... creepy. I sighed and looked around myself. People were buzzing past me, each busy with their own problems. Life was going past me and now more than ever realization struck me to the core. There was no one I knew here. No friends, no family, no nothing. I leaned back as I suddenly felt sadness creep into my heart. I was cast away far from home and I had no idea how to go back. I was all alone, no one to turn to for comfort or advice. I didn't even know anyone here. Well, except for Itachi, maybe. Though he was far from being my friend. Not after all that I did to him. I sighed again, letting out the breath of air I was holding in. I had no idea what to do or where to go. I was slowly starting to believe I was really somehow transported into the world of Naruto. How else would I explain everything I have seen and done? But then... how was I gonna go back? If I came here because I was struck by a lightning, does it mean I just have to do it again? Not that I wanted to. I frowned at the idea of being struck by lightning again. There MUST be some other way...

I groaned as I rubbed my temples with my fingers. I was tired of trying to think of a way to go home. And this wasn't like me at all. I was always a person who lived in the present and didn't bother about the future. And right about then, my ears caught some sounds, similar to the ones of a guitar. I got up and looked around, my heart beating a bit faster. I loved music and I knew how to play a guitar. I've been learning since early childhood, ever since I first heard it. I also had talent for singing. Maybe if I could just play something, I would feel better. I looked around the plaza carefully and finally noticed some musicians on the other side. I strolled to them, smiling at how they tried to get some attention. They weren't very successful. Only a few people stopped by and threw some coins into a cap on the ground by their feet. I smiled to myself and shook my head. They were singing all the wrong songs.

With a soft smile on my lips I came to them and waved. "Hi! May I try to play?.."

The guy I talked to glanced at me surprised, but nodded and gave me the instrument, which looked slightly similar to a guitar. I took it and played a few strings, trying to get used to it. Then, I smiled and winked at the guys, who were standing, watching me curiously.

"Shall we play?"

I grinned as I started playing, singing along in a nice clear voice. It was a simple and catchy song and soon the passing people halted in their tracks and nodded in the rhythm of the song. The other guys joined me, playing too as the melody was simple and easy. In a few minutes villagers crowded around, listening to me and smiling. The cap soon became full of money and when I finished everybody clapped. I smiled and bowed, feeling a bit better. When I raised my head, still smiling like an idiot I was, I found myself right in front of Itachi.

"You're coming with me," a wide smirk was plastered on his face as he grabbed my hand and dragged me away.

This time I did not resist and followed him quietly, not even trying to get away from him. Frankly, I felt almost glad he found me. Even though singing raised my spirits a bit, I was still stranded in a completely foreign land without anyone close to me. Itachi was the first person I met here and his strong fingers gripping mine almost gave me some kind of comfort.

As I contemplated on my newly found feelings of attachment to Itachi, he halted abruptly and turned to me.

"Why are you not trying to run away?"

I looked at him and shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm just glad I still have my head on my shoulders," I somewhat giggled. "I thought you're gonna kill me as soon as you find me."

Itachi glared at me as he replied softly, "Believe me, there's nothing more I'd find so satisfying and fulfilling than killing you."

"Oh," I stared at him somewhat perplexed. "So why am I still alive?"

Itachi grinned slightly, "I'm taking you to the Leader."

My eyes widened in surprise as I slowly realized who he was talking about. And just to make sure, I, of course, had to make even more trouble for myself and ask, "Leader... as in the Akatsuki Leader?!"

Itachi's eyes narrowed instantly. "What do you know about the Akatsuki?"

I gulped as I realized my mistake. I quickly thought of denying it, but I doubted Itachi would have believed me. '_Maybe... knowledge is my most powerful weapon here.'_

So, I smirked at Itachi haughtily. "More than you do."

Itachi stared at me taken aback slightly. I grinned and raised my free arm up in the air. "But first... let's go shopping!!!"

Itachi gripped my arm painfully as he hissed. "You will tell me everything you know-"

"What, right now?"

The ninja grumbled something and sighed, realizing this wasn't the place.

"No. On our way to the hideout."

"Right. Anyway, let's go shopping first!" I grinned widely.

"No."

"Yes."

"No," Itachi glared at me.

"Yes, yes, yes!" I was starting to like this game.

"NO!" Itachi was loosing his patience.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No," You repeated grinning - it always worked.

"Yes."

"Cool! Thanks', it's this way!"

"Wha- NO!" Itachi shouted as he finally realized his mistake.

"You said yes."

"You tricked me," he hissed at me, yet, I only smiled.

"We can do this the nice way or the hard way."

"Oh?" Itachi cocked a brow. "Is this a threat?"

I sighed. "Look. I just want a change of clothes, alright? After I shop, we go to your leader or whomever else you want."

Itachi kept silent as he seemed to think. Finally, he nodded his head almost reluctantly and let go of my arm.

"Fine. But don't even try to run away."

I shrugged. "It's not like I have somewhere to run away to. You don't have to worry about that."

Itachi kept silent for a while and then he nodded again.

"I'm coming with you."

I raised a brow, staring at him in surprise. "You are a brave one."

* * *

Itachi's POV:

I was sitting on a couch trying to find a suitable word to express my current feelings. Thought I doubt there is one. I glared at some random girl, who was literally sending hearts at me and gritted my teeth in rage. This is... HELL. Now I know how it looks like. I can't believe I was such an idiot to come here. I swear that girl is doing this on purpose. For the last 2 hours she must have changed her clothes like thousand of times only to shake her head and go for another robe. And I was a fool enough to come here and keep watch over her. I swear I'm never ever going shopping again... I flinched when the face of Liz suddenly obstructed my view. She was dangerously close.

"I can't take this any more!!!" She screamed as she flopped down on the ground.

My brow twitched. SHE can't take it?! What about ME?! I gritted my teeth and was prepared to express my whole anger while breaking her bones, when the shop assistant came back with some clothes.

"I... I chose something else, miss. These are our best selling products."

Liz got up and turned around to face the girl. She picked some cloth, a dress form the looks of it.

"It's... a dress. And it's PINK," she glared at the assistant and the girl flinched.

"But... this is all we have."

"Don't you have some simple jeans and T-shirts I could wear? Please?.. I BEG you!"

"I-I'm not sure... jeans?.."

"PANTS, for heaven's sake!!!" Liz shouted frustrated at the shop assistant.

"I... but... pants don't suit a girl..."

"ARGH!!!" Liz turned around fuming and plopped down next to me. "I give up... This is hell..."

"For once, I agree," I mumbled.

"Did you say something?" Liz turned to me puzzled.

"No," I glared at her. "Are you done now?"

She sighed heavily as she leaned back on the couch.

"Say... Is there a bigger town somewhere here? With a bigger shop?.."

My eyes widened as pure horror struck me and I muttered hastily, "NO! Nothing like that!"

Liz turned to me, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Are you lying to me, Itachi?.."

I glared at her and got up. "Choose your clothes NOW. We're leaving."

The girl scoffed as she shook her head.

"There's nothing to choose from, smart-pants."

"I don't care. We're leaving in 5 minutes."

She looked at me confused, but there was no chance I was gonna stay in this place any longer.

"4," I stated coldly and smirked as Liz cursed under her breath and got up.

"Fine. I think I saw something interesting down there."

She came back soon with her shirt changed into something I'd definitely call "interesting". What's even more interesting, it looked damn good on her. The shirt was black in colour and it seemed to be made from some threads and as Liz tugged it down, it fit her figure as if a web. The threads went around her shoulders in sparse lines and then thickened around her chest and her arms, making up long sleeves. The shirt ended just above her navel in a thread-like web. I had to admit that she looked amazing in it.

* * *

I knew Itachi was at his limit already and even though I could have left the shop hours ago, it was just too much fun torturing him...

I smiled widely and span around. "How do I look?"

Itachi merely grumbled something as he grabbed my arm and dragged me out, tossing some coins to the shop assistant..

"We're leaving."

I merely chuckled. "As you wish."

After 15 more minutes of walking the two of us were almost at the outskirts of the village. Itachi was still gripping my arm firmly. Not strongly enough to leave bruises, but not lightly enough for me to take it away. I scoffed as I thought we looked almost like lovers, walking around holding hands.

"You know, you can let go of my hand now," I noted.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm not giving you a chance to run away," Itachi glared at me.

"I'm not going to. I told you I'll go to your leader or whatever. I don't break my promises."

That didn't seem to convince him, as Itachi still held my hand.

I smirked. "Well, of course, if you like holding my hand THAT much, I suppose I'll let it be..."

Itachi glared at me hatefully as he let go of my hand immediately almost as if it had burned him.

"Don't even think of trying anything," he hissed at me venomously.

I shrugged and smiled. "If you say so."

We continued walking and in a few minutes we left the town behind us and entered the very same forest I had gone out of yesterday.

"Say... Is your hideout far from here?" I asked curiously.

Itachi looked at me and smirked, "Why don't you tell me? You said you know about it more than I do."

I scoffed and turned away. "Whatever. Where's your sidekick buddy, a.k.a. fish-boy?"

Itachi glared at me, "His name is Kisame."

"Say... what does he eat?" I turned to Itachi, feeling curious again. "I know some fish eat plankton, though I doubt there is any here... Is he a vegetarian then? I mean, he doesn't eat other fish, does he? That would be cannibalism. Oh, wait, he's a shark! Sharks do eat other fish..."

Itachi halted as he watched me talk to myself with slight amusement.

"Gosh... this is so complicated," I shook my head and noticed Itachi stop. "Why did you stop?"

He smiled ever so slightly. "You are weird."

"Wow. You are a true master of compliments," I stated sarcastically as I turned around to continue walking and almost bumped into someone.

"Why the hell did you bring her along, Itachi?" I looked up to see Kisame.

"Right on time," I smiled. "We were just talking about you."

Itachi stepped closer as he grinned. "She might be useful. The leader will decide what to do with her."

Kisame glared at me angrily as he hissed, "You'd better keep your mouth shut then, girly."

I raised my brow. "Or what? You're gonna cut my tongue or something?"

Kisame growled as he grabbed the handle of his sword. "I might just do that."

"Stop it, both of you," Itachi hissed. "We have company."

Just as he said that, some people jumped down from the trees and surrounded us in a large circle. I noticed they all were wearing masks and I remembered I had seen them in the anime a few times before. _'What were they called again? Something beginning with an A maybe?.. Ar... Am... An?.. Can't remember... Whatever, let's leave it at that.'_

Meanwhile, one of the masked guys stepped up in front and stated coldly, "Surrender willingly and be brought to justice or bear the consequences of your crimes now."

Kisame chuckled as he got his sword out. "Finally some action."

Itachi merely glanced at me as he said. "Don't move."

I heaved a sigh as I put my right hand on my hips. "If you say so."

In a blink of an eye I saw Kisame move on towards the masked guys and so the battle began.


	7. Not a Ninja

**Thanks' for reviewing so much! I think this story is getting the most reviews of all my stories here. Itachi must be really popular. XD**

* * *

I watched how Kisame slashed at one of the masked guys with his humongous sword. Being of such a size he was incredibly fast and agile. I then cast a glance at Itachi who was still standing at the same spot, just a step in front of me. Three ninjas were running towards him and my eyes caught a blur of something as they threw it at Itachi.

_'Oh shit!'_ I cursed mentally as I suddenly realized the wondrous fact that I might actually get hurt in all this mess.

Yet, quite surprised I saw how Itachi moved in front of me completely and took the blows of the upcoming ninja, at the same time counterattacking him and sending the poor guy into the nearest tree. The man hit the tree hard and fell, growling from the pain. At that time Itachi was already fighting two other ninjas and even though I wished I could understand what was really going on, they were moving far too fast for me to see. I suppose I was not granted supervision. Yet, in a few minutes or so, the bodies of the ninjas fell limp, blood trickling down to the ground and soaking the green grass. Itachi stood, staring at them for a moment. Then, he turned to me and I noticed his eyes suddenly widen. Then, anger flashed in them, and while I contemplated what had happened, I felt someone grip my right arm strongly and twist it behind my back as a sharp knife (I suddenly vaguely remembered it to be called a kunai) was put to my throat. I suppose I should have watched my surroundings instead of Itachi and I yelped in both fear and pain as the man's fingers dug into my wrist painfully. Kisame landed behind Itachi, probably done with his opponents and growled at us.

"Don't move or I'll cut her throat," I heard a voice beside my ear and shivered at the thought of dying so young.

I saw Itachi hesitate as he was evaluating his chances and I noticed the last few masked guys reappear around. I cursed mentally once again. '_I can't believe that idiot Itachi is gonna loose like this, just cause of me... wait, that's not the point... I might DIE!!!'_

Realization struck me like lightning and I shrieked. "I'm too young to die here!!! And I'm NOT supposed to die from a ninja hand! I wanna get hit by a car instead!"

"Shut up or I'll send you to hell!" The ninja hissed and I felt the knife scratch the skin of my neck.

I yelped again as it broke my skin and I felt blood trickle down, yet, now it was rage that filled me and I hissed angrily, "Oh, I'll show you hell. Power..."

In a matter of seconds everything around me went blank and empty darkness engulfed me. After doing it dozens of times today I felt pretty much used to it already. I tried moving, yet, felt nothing. I shrugged. Who knew if it worked, yet, I hoped it did. I blinked a few times at the emptiness around me. Every time I came here I felt as if I was blind. Completely blind and senseless. Just not being able to feel anything was incredibly scary. I felt deprived of all my senses all at once and, frankly said, it was hellishly dreadful. I couldn't even imagine how it would affect someone else beside me. Perhaps, ninjas had some special training for cases like this one.

Well, hopefully, this worked the same way my other powers did. Meaning, the guy was touching me, so he should be dragged in here as well. I sat down mentally, having decided to wait for a bit. This was gonna get boring. I started to count the seconds to at least somehow keep the track of time. But I grew bored by the 300th, meaning, I've spent here merely 5 minutes. I sighed. '_This equals to like 5 seconds in real world.'_ I had no idea how this was gonna affect my attacker, so I decided to stay on the safe side and wait a bit more.

After waiting a bit longer, I finally decided I'd risk coming back. I concentrated and said mentally "Power".

Even though I had prepared myself for the sudden impact with the real world, still, the bright light of the sun blinded me and I blinked quickly adjusting my sight. My nose tingled as all the scents around me seemed incredibly strong and my ears buzzed and hurt from the sounds that assailed my hearing so suddenly. My whole head seemed to be swirling as my brains tried to cope with the sudden overflow of senses, emotions and information. I breathed in slowly, getting my shivering body under control. The ninja behind me, however, wasn't so lucky or self-controlling.

I had already felt that my hand was free of his hold and I noticed the knife was lying on the ground by my feet, splashed with fresh blood. Whose?.. I turned around to see where my attacker was and slightly gasped. The ninja was down on the ground, shaking uncontrollably, his hands on his ears as if trying to stop the flow of sounds. It was true that my ears still hurt and buzzed too, and even the slightest sound of the tree branches in the wind was ringing in my ears. He was bleeding severely, with cuts and stab wounds all over his body. I realized he must have tried cutting himself, trying to get out of that place, my place. Maybe he thought it was an illusion, but it wasn't. Everything there was real. And the wounds he inflicted upon himself were real as well.

The man was wriggling on the ground, wailing and screaming, muttering something incomprehensible. He suddenly shot up and then fell to the ground again, clutching at the strands of grass, picking it up.

"I! I feel it! Hahaha... hahahahhah!!! I FEEEEELLL!!!!"

He was now laughing madly as he stood up swiftly, blood splattering from his wounds onto the ground. I took a few steps back, a bit shocked. I had no idea it would have such an impact on him.

The man suddenly turned to me, his eyes burning with madness and I flinched, backing away, feeling somewhat scared. I only took a few steps until I bumped into someone, who grabbed my shoulders firmly. I looked up and met Itachi's eyes, now bloody red with small black dots. The Sharingan. Surprisingly, my body relaxed slightly and for some reason I felt really safe in his strong, yet, gentle arms.

Then, I heard some chuckling and I directed my gaze towards the man, who now suddenly dashed towards me. I felt Itachi tense up behind me, but the man only ran to the kunai. He picked it up as he laughed madly and suddenly stabbed his leg above the knee. I gasped in surprise.

The man stabbed the kunai again as he shouted in pain, "YES! I feel it! I can FEEL it! Hahahahahahah…"

I stared at the man in shock and horror, as I realized he was slowly losing his sanity. He was still laughing crazily as some of his friends grabbed and dragged him away, disappearing into the forest.

"Should I go after them?" Kisame hissed as he readied his sword.

"No," Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly. "Leave them be. You," he looked down at me and I felt something flutter in my chest as his eyes peered into mine. "What did you do to him?"

I stared back at his red eyes and suddenly I realized I might understand what my love-struck friends saw in him…

"Liz?" He narrowed his eyes, boring into mine intently.

I blinked a few times, trying to get rid of my stupid daydreaming and shook my head. "Nothing much."

"Nothing much?! Ha!" Kisame laughed out putting his sword behind his back. "The guy suddenly bled almost to death for no apparent reasons and went nuts, cutting himself all over, and you say _Nothing much_!"

"Is this another one of your… jutsus?" Itachi was still looking down at me.

I frowned and tried wriggling out of his grip. "Do you enjoy holding me THAT much or what?.."

Itachi glared at me and let me go, slightly pushing me away. Being the normal girl I was, I lost my balance and fell down on my butt.

"Damn!" I cursed. "Did you have to push me?"

Itachi smirked. "You asked for it."

"I did not," I pouted as I got up and dusted myself off.

"Geez, let's just go," Kisame growled.

Itachi nodded. "Yes. Let's leave this place first. You can tell us what happened later."

I only shrugged. It's not like I actually had something to tell. I myself had no idea how I did that. And, frankly, I did not have even the slightest wish to do so again. I had no idea it would affect others in such a way…

"Follow us closely, and don't even think of running away," Itachi said as he turned away and suddenly disappeared. Kisame followed him and suddenly I was left all alone.

I blinked a few times as I cursed in my head. How the hell was I supposed to follow them?! I didn't have even the slightest idea as to where they went. Well, before I could think of anything, Itachi and Kisame reappeared in front me, Itachi glaring at me angrily.

"Why are you still standing here?" He hissed at me.

My brow twitched in annoyance as I hissed back, "Well sorry, Mr. World-Marathon-Champion, but I can't run at the speed of light!"

"Whaaat?.." Kisame looked down at me in confusion.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, still glaring at me, as I sighed, having lost all hopes to have a normal conversation with them.

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked warily.

I sighed again. "I'm not some super duper ninja, that's what I mean! I can hardly run a few hundred meters without losing my breath."

I frowned as Itachi and Kisame stared at me in a slight shock.

"What? Is it that hard to believe?" I frowned again irritated with their reaction.

"Whoah… Hold on a minute," Kisame hissed. "Are you saying you can't even keep up with us?.."

I glared at him and scoffed back, "Well if I could, I wouldn't be standing here now and we wouldn't be having this stupid conversation!"

"Are you making fun of us?!" Kisame roared at me. "You can perform high-leveled jutsus, yet, you can't even run?!"

My brow twitched a bit in annoyance again as I glared at him hatefully. "I'm not a damn ninja!"

"Then, who are you?" Itachi asked me relatively calmly, considering the situation we were in.

I looked at him and blinked a few times surprised at his question.

"Well… that's kind of… complicated," I finally muttered in reply.

"Is it?" Itachi narrowed his eyes watching me.

I avoided his gaze as I turned away and chuckled slightly. "Yeah, it's a long story."

"I have time," I heard his soft voice right behind me and shuddered. This was not good. I turned around to face him and looked at him. Itachi was standing right in front of me and you could feel his warm breath on me.

This world… this world was real. Everything here was real. I cast my glance down. '_If I get killed here, do I die for real?.._'

Then, I looked at Itachi again. I remembered my friends telling me he was one of the strongest characters here. What would I do if I made an enemy out of him?.. Would my tricks really help me out? He might kill me even before I say "_Stop_".

"Well?" Itachi was staring down at me somewhat curiously.

"There's nothing to tell," I said, looking him at the eyes. Even if I make an enemy out of him, what else can I do? Would he believe me if I told him the truth?.. Hardly. I could never tell him the truth. No. That is not an option. All I can do is make up a believable lie. Or keep quiet.

Anything but the truth.


	8. In the Den of the Lion

**And here's another update :) Thanks for reviewing and adding the story to your favorites and alerts ^^ Hopefully, you'll continue being a fan. Haha. And yes, GlassTier, that was a good idea about putting them in slow mode. I must admit I pondered about it for a while when writing that chapter, but then decided against it. because the slow mode is very very very slow. And Liz doesn't know how to make it faster. Yet. XD**

**Warning:I have no idea how Akatsuki's hideout looks in reality, so I just made it up however I want. Also, there are some SPOILERS here for those, who don't know all the truth about the Akatsuki, so read at your own risk. You've been warned. ^^**

* * *

An uncomfortable silence fell as I just stared at Itachi, contemplating on what might happen next and Kisame seemed rather impassive to everything that was going on. Apparently, he had decided to leave the thinking and talking part to his partner.

Then, Itachi smirked at me haughtily as he asked, "So, you are not a ninja?"

I shook my head, narrowing my eyes slightly.

"You can't run or move fast?"

I glanced away irritated. That's like saying 'Come and get me, cause I can't run away', but it was the truth and I nodded unwillingly. No point in lying, is there?

"I can't," I whispered quietly.

Itachi smirked contently, "Good."

I scoffed, _'Yeah, good for him maybe.'_

I didn't manage to retort though as I merely realized he was already in front of me and all I felt was his warm hand on my neck as it hit me unconscious…

* * *

Itachi's POV:

I quickly jumped up and down through the trees, Kisame following me and still grumbling about our situation. I had to admit though; it was rather unexpected that this girl Liz wasn't a ninja. Then how come she could perform such powerful jutsus? Well, I have heard of some clans who relied solely on jutsus and declined physical training, yet, those clans barely survived in this world. In these harsh times you had to excel at everything.

In less than a half an hour we reached our hideout. I looked at Liz in my arms. She seemed to still be unconscious. Good. It was better this way. I carried her to my room and put her down on my bed. She should be asleep for another hour or so. In the meantime, I and Kisame had to report to the leader. The mission was successful and we even managed to get a little bonus for ourselves, if a living and breathing girl could be called that.

* * *

The very first thing I felt was a huge headache. The sharp pain traveled from the back of my head and circled around until it victoriously returned to where it started. I growled as I sat up slowly and tried looking around, my head still pounding like crazy.

I was lying on a single sized bed in quite a spacious room. Well, it was spacious because there was almost nothing in it. Just the bed, a small night table beside it, a wardrobe by the wall to the right of the bed, and a chair near the wardrobe. I sat up, my headache slowly fading away. The walls were empty and there were no windows. There were no room decorations either, just the necessities. I got up, noticing two doors. One was beside the wardrobe and the other in front of the bed. I went to the one near the wardrobe and opened it. Ah, a bathroom.

I then turned the knob of the other door and peered out. A corridor. I stepped out, closing the door behind me quietly. Was I already taken to the Akatsuki hideout? I bet I was. I looked left, but it was a dead-end, so I turned to my right and with my incredible luck managed to bump into someone, falling on my butt hard. I felt a slight tingle in my left eye and I realized I had lost my contact lens.

"OH! Who are you, un?" I heard a voice of a boy.

I merely grumbled something in return, holding my hand over my left eye and frantically looking around for my lens.

"Are you alright, un?"

"Don't you dare move…" I finally whispered, noticing my lens just beside his foot.

"HUH?"

"Don't move, I lost my eye," I explained snappily, reaching for my lens.

"EYE?!" the guy jumped back from me and I looked up at him reproachfully, taking the lens up.

"You're lucky you didn't crush it," I said getting up, slowly removing my hand from my left eye.

The blonde guy in front of me shrieked almost in a girly voice and closed his right eye, as his other one was covered by his hair.

"Nooooo! I don't want to see it!" He jumped back a few steps.

I only shrugged as I removed my hand and took out a napkin, gently brushing off the dust from the lens. The blonde was mumbling something, half-turned away from me. When he finally gathered his courage to look at me, I was taking out my second lens, seeing as the other one was dirtied. Most probably not a very good idea to put it in right now.

"Gaah!!!" I heard him shriek and heard a plopping sound.

I looked down at him, as he was sitting on the ground now, his eyes wide with shock and surprise.

"You… You t-t-t-t-ouched… your eye," he mumbled.

"Yeah?" I raised my brow questioningly.

"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-touched…"

I sighed, recalling his name from the depths of my mind. "Deidara, was it?"

"How do you know my name?!" He shrieked again.

"What's with all the shouting?" I heard another voice and turned to see a guy with dark red hair, standing by the opened up doors to one of the other rooms in the corridor.

"Sasooooriiiii!" Deidara shot up and ran to the new guy, clinging to his sleeve. "She lost her eye and then… t-t-t-t-t-t-ouche-d-d-d the o-o-o-ther …"

"Huh?"

"AND SHE KNOWS MY NAME!!!" Deidara shrieked again and I sighed, rolling my eyes as I carefully wrapped the lenses into the napkin and put it into my pocket carefully. Hopefully, they won't break.

"She must be that girl Kisame told about," Sasori remained cool and I sighed. Finally someone sensible. "I thought she was knocked out."

"Not anymore," I smirked slightly. At that time I, of course, heard my stomach rumble and smiled warmly at the guys. "Say, can I get something to eat?"

The red haired guy that Deidara called Sasori nodded and waved to me to follow him. I winked to Deidara, who still watched me warily, and followed Sasori. I vaguely remembered him to be some kind of a puppet master or something. And Deidara had something to do with clay, if my memory wasn't playing tricks on me.

*** Spoiler Ahead * **

And so I walked after Sasori, Deidara following us quietly. I tried to remember as many things as I could about the Akatsuki gang. I recalled my friends told me the Akatsuki leader was not the real leader… So, basically, if Pein is the leader, then he is not really the leader. I frowned slightly confused as thought back to what my friends had said to me. Something about a masked guy being the real leader. And he was somehow related to the Uchiha?.. Was he? Wasn't he? I frowned as I groaned and felt regretful I didn't watch Naruto more. Any kind of knowledge would be helpful to me. After all, if the leader didn't find me useful or interesting, I could be killed instantly. Not something I was looking forward to. 

*** Spoiler End***

By that time I reached a stairway and descended to a round hall. I could see a dim corridor to my left, a door on the opposite side of the hall and an arch to my right, which seemed to lead to some other rooms.

Sasori crossed the hall and headed to the door ahead, so I followed him, looking around curiously. After all, this was THE hideout. I giggled and Sasori turned his head to me with his eyebrow raised slightly.

"What do you find so amusing?"

"Uh…" I laughed out sheepishly. "Nothing, really. I'm just being happy."

I beamed a smile, while Sasori merely stared at me. He then turned around and continued walking. I sighed as I followed him, noticing Deidara was still keeping his distance from me.

I passed through a door and found myself in a spacious room, which was divided into a kitchen and a dining room with a table in the middle. I glanced around, but there was no one here. Sasori went to the kitchen part and took out some kind of a dish from a fridge, handing it to me. I took it and looked down. Meat?.. Or something that looked faintly similar to it.

I glanced at Sasori with my brow twitching. "Is this… raw?"

Sasori shrugged. "Perhaps."

'_Perhaps?_' I rolled my eyes as I pushed past him towards something similar to an oven, mumbling quietly. "Men."

I put the meat-alike on the nearby cupboard and rummaged through the drawers and other cupboards. Quite surprisingly, I found many ingredients here. Actually, there was everything a cook would ever need. Well, thinking back, Akatsuki was made solely of male members, right? Or was there a female here? I shook my head. No point in wondering. Even if there was a girl in here, she didn't seem to use this kitchen often.

I took out a pan and some vegetables and searched the drawers for a good kitchen knife. Time to make myself some quick dinner.

"What are you doing, un?" I heard a curious voice and looked at a blonde head, staring at me with interest.

"Making something actually edible," I remarked. "You want some too?"

Deidara kept silent, but I decided I'd make some for the guys too. If I was already here, why not make some "fictional" friends? After all, they say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

After half an hour I had already prepared some fried meat, seasoned with various spices, and served with fresh vegetable salad. Nothing much, but enough to fill the stomach. And judging from the looks on their faces, the guys haven't had any decent warm food in a while.

I placed the plate in front of Sasori and Deidara, who were sitting in front of each other, and took a seat at the end of the table.

For a few minutes they just stared at their plates, but then Deidara suddenly grabbed his fork and dug in, eating with his both cheeks full. Sasori, on the other hand, took both his fork and knife and started eating the food almost elegantly, if that was even possible. I watched them both with interest, the stories and comments of my friends slowly coming back to me from the recesses of my memory.

I had to remember as much as I could, after all, knowledge was my most effective weapon here. Thus, I ate slowly, deep in thoughts about the Akatsuki gang. Now I was glad I listened to my friends' chatter at least half-heartedly. I couldn't remember all of them, but I recalled the most important info. That should be enough to convince the leader to let me stay.

"Liz," I suddenly heard a cold voice behind me and jumped up in surprise, turning around.

"Ah, it's only you, Itachi," I heaved a sigh.

"Only me?" I could swear I saw his brow twitch slightly.

"Itachi, un! She's the best cook ever, UN!!!" Deidara raised his head with a content grin plastered on his face.

Sasori nodded slowly, "She is."

Itachi glanced at me and grumbled something, as he took me by my arm and dragged me to himself. "We're going."

"Yes! Let's march forward!" My good mood returned once again and I grinned idiotically. "To the leader-sama!"

Itachi only glanced at me strangely as he spit out almost angrily, "You're in an awfully good mood."

"Awwww," I looked at him tearfully. "Were you hurt I left without you?"

"No one gave you permission to leave the room," Itachi whispered coldly.

"Yes, daddy," I rolled my eyes, avoiding his angry gaze.

Itachi dragged me back into the hall and through the arch towards the other premises of their hideout. I looked around with interest as I passed through some empty rooms and a corridor which led slightly up towards heavy doors.

The Uchiha ninja stopped and I felt my heart-rate speed up. I somewhat knew what to do – I had devised a small plan while I was eating, yet, I still felt nervous. It was one thing to plan and totally different to actually carry it out. I had to prove to the Akatsuki leader I would be useful to him. I had to show him I was powerful enough to belong to the Akatsuki. And for that I needed all the courage I could muster.

"Are you scared?" suddenly, I heard Itachi's voice. Strangely enough, it was soft and not cold as always.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Even if I am, that doesn't change a thing."

Itachi somewhat smirked and nodded, knocking on the heavy door.

"Come in," I heard a voice and Itachi opened the doors with a loud creaking sound.

I took a deep breath and stepped in. My fate was about to take another turn.


	9. The Ally of the Akatsuki

**Hey, everyone! Thank you for reviewing and adding my story to favorites and alerts . I'm sorry I left you without updates for some time, but I was kind of busy and then Easter came ^^ Anyways, here's another chapter. There will be spoilers again and I'll mark them just like earlier, though I doubt it's anything you don't know yet lol Anyways, Sasori and Deidara and some other characters might be OOC just like Reclun has pointed out. Some of it is caused by my little knowledge of their characters and some parts are intentional, cause I am trying to make a comedy here. ^^ I apologize if this OOCness insults you in any way. I'm just trying to make the story as funny as I can, so yeah, some OCCness might happen.**

* * *

I stepped into the room and looked around myself warily. The room was dark and dim, with a strong scent of wood. I noticed bookshelves standing around by all the walls and a massive wooden desk at the further end of the room. Someone was sitting behind the desk and I saw him move slightly as I entered the room.

I felt Itachi's arm slowly push me forth and so I walked towards the desk. The man leaned forward and the dim lamplight illuminated his face.

I gasped a little as I whispered, "So many piercings…"

Really, this man was incredible. He had piercings all over his face. At least now I understood why he was called Pein. Pfft. PEIN. I almost chuckled, but held it in. Hey, every villain has a deep and painful past… pfft, painful. I managed to keep the laughter in, but a small smile made its way onto my lips.

I noticed a hint of interest in Pein's eyes as he looked me up and down. "This is the girl you told me about?"

"Yes," Itachi answered briefly.

"So, girl, you can stop time?" Pein glanced at me, waiting for my answer.

My brow twitched slightly. "It's not girl, it's Liz."

"Liz, then," Pein continued watching me.

I shrugged my shoulders, knowing he was still waiting for my answer to his previous question. "I guess I can. Stop."

The time stopped around me and I walked to the Akatsuki leader. Why talk about it if I can just show it to him. And, after all, I wanted to talk to him without Itachi hearing our conversation.

So, I walked around the table and touched Pein's shoulder, saying out loud, "Play."

I saw how his orbs widened and he snapped his head to me, his eyes now with a tint of suspicion.

I smiled at him warmly and sat on his table, my feet hanging a few centimeters up from the ground.

"Let's talk, shall we?" I kept smiling at him, watching his orange eyes as the suspicion was changed by curiosity.

He looked at Itachi, who was standing motionless, frozen in time.

"You stopped time?" Pein inquired getting up from his chair and walking to Itachi.

"Yeah," I looked down at the ground. "I thought this way would be quicker than trying to explain it to you."

"Indeed," Pein nodded, turning to me again. "How does it work?"

I shrugged. "I can stop time in a radius of 1km, for as long as I need. And that is merely the tip of an iceberg, for I can do so much more," I let a small and, hopefully, slightly evil smirk bend my rosy lips. Seriously, I should have practiced it a bit in front of the mirror.

"This is truly a dangerous jutsu," Pein whispered hoarsely.

I stood up and looked at him, shaking my head. "Not really. It's the one that uses it who is dangerous."

Pein nodded slightly as a smile crept up his lips. "Which village do you come from… Liz?"

"Does it matter?" I asked as I walked closer to him. "I could be a great ally to your organization, if the conditions are acceptable."

"I see," Pein didn't break his eye contact with me and I didn't either. "I have a proposal for you, then… Liz."

"Oh, do you now?" I asked, smirking a bit.

Pein grinned at me as he walked closer. "Join us."

I chuckled. "Short and straight to the point. Just the way I like it."

Pein smiled slightly at my comment. "You are truly interesting, just like Itachi had said."

"U-huh," I shook my head. "But you see, here's this tiny problem - I really hate those straw hats you wear… and those red clouds on the cloaks? Gee, who was your outfit designer? In other words, I don't want to join your organization."

I noticed how Pein's eyes darkened dangerously and I smiled warmly. "Yet, I would be glad to aid you in your quest for the tailed beasts."

***Spoiler Ahead***

Pein's eyes narrowed immediately and I nodded, keeping the smile on my face. "Yeah, I know all about it. I also happen to know many other things, dear vice-leader," I now smirked at him slightly.

"You see," I continued after a short pause as Pein stared at me with mixed emotions in his eyes. "Right now I am available for hire and I happened to come to you first. But, if you don't want my services, I can always go to the Konoha village. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to pay the price I ask for some truly interesting information about a certain Madara Uchiha."

***Spoiler End***

With every word I said I saw Pein's eyes darken and I knew I was playing a very dangerous game here. After all, he could just launch at me right now and break my neck – I doubted I could stop him in time. Yet, at the same time I knew he was interested in my ability and I was willing to risk it. It's either everything or nothing now.

He stood silent, watching me intently as if thinking it over.

I smiled again. "You can think if you want or discuss it with a certain someone, I can always stop by later. I have all the time in the world."

"And what are your conditions?" he asked calmly, his eyes no loner giving away his emotions.

I shrugged. "Nothing much, really. All I want is my freedom and to be considered as an ally, rather than a member of your organization. I really DO hate your cloaks, sorry about that. In other words, I am free to move around and go out. In return, however, I pledge my loyalty to you and offer my services. Oh, and a monthly payment would be quite welcome," I grinned happily.

"Hmmm," Pein stared at me intently. "And how do I know you don't run off to the Konoha village and betray us?"

I looked at him straight in the eyes as I said, "You don't. But, I do not change sides once chosen and I do not betray my allies or friends. However, I have no way to prove it. You can only have my word."

Pein nodded. "I suppose that will be acceptable for now. Is this all?"

"Yah," I nodded, smiling happily. Now this was easier than I expected.

"Alright then, we have an agreement. But first, you will have to prove yourself in a mission," Pein noted, sitting back behind his desk. "This is obligatory to all new members… and allies."

I shrugged. "Whatever you say, boss."

He nodded and motioned towards Itachi. "Would you mind?.."

"Oh, right, forgot about him," I smiled sheepishly and walked to Itachi, touching his shoulder and whispering the magical word.

I stepped away from him as he immediately turned to me, having felt my hand on his shoulder. His eyes stared at me in wonder and then it turned into a glare as he realized what I've done.

"Liz shall be joining us," Pein made a short pause and then continued, correcting himself, "as an ally."

"Ally?" Itachi echoed, his brows raised.

"Yes. You will be responsible for showing her around and looking after her until she proves her worthiness," Pein paused as if thinking. "I will notify you about your first mission when I know the details."

"Great, I got a babysitter," I grumbled and immediately felt the burning glare of Itachi's cold eyes. Ironic, huh. Cold eyes, burning glare. Pfft.

"Our agreement will come into force when you complete your first mission. Until then, your roommate shall be Itachi."

"WHAT?!" We both shouted in unison and Pein raised his brow mockingly.

"You never mentioned an individual room in your conditions. Or would you rather live with Kisame, then?"

"NO!" I immediately shrieked and sighed, mumbling. "This is still a violation of women rights."

"..?" I noticed the surprised glances of Itachi and Pein and shrugged.

"Never mind. I'd rather live with Itachi than a runaway from an aquarium."

I heard a slight sniggering sound and turned to Itachi a bit surprised, as it seemed to have come out from him.

"Let's go," he glared at me yet again and turned around to leave.

I followed Itachi as I waved goodbye to Pein, who was watching me with slight interest in his eyes.

Just as I went out through the doors I felt a hand grab my shoulder and felt rammed against the wall in a nano-second. I looked up at Itachi, his eyes glowering angrily at me.

"Don't you ever dare do this to me again," he hissed at me and then let me go suddenly. I slid down to the ground with a grumble as I touched my shoulder. Someone didn't like to be left out, huh.

I got up from the ground and followed him down to the kitchen, where I could already hear bickering sounds. We entered the room to see more of the notorious Akatsuki members. I furrowed my brows as I tried to remember them.

My glance first landed on Deidara and Sasori and I immediately skipped through their faces as I already knew them. Then, I noticed the blue skin of Kisame. Skip. Then, my eyes stopped by Itachi, who had already miraculously walked around the room while I was just standing there by the doorway. Double skip. After that, my attention was captured by a huge green plant-like thing. Oh, wait, it is human. Or is it a plant? Human? Plant? Human? Oh, to hell with it. I rolled my eyes. Next one, please!

And then, my eyes were struck with the most beautiful sight of all, almost like a vision. The time seemed to stop even without my magical interference, as I stared at his lightly blond hair, his pale white skin, his deep and cold eyes… Oh, and let's not forget the humongous scythe-like thingy with three blades which suddenly slashed the air right in front of my nose.

"What the %^$%# is this #$%#% thing #$%# doing here?!" He shouted right at me as I stepped back, my eyes now fixated on the tip of the sharp blades…


	10. Fellow Believers

**I'm back with updates again ^^ Thank you all for reviewing very much! It does feel good to find so many comments whenever I log in. XD Well, enjoy the chapter! I'm sure you'll recognize the pun I used this time ;) Also, a warning - Itachi gets OOC in this chapter, but it is on purpose, because I think he is human too. He has the right to. *cackles evilly* **

* * *

"What the %^$%# is this #$%#% thing #$%# doing here?!" He shouted right at me as I stepped back, my eyes now fixated on the tip of the sharp blades.

"Hahaha!" I heard someone laugh and saw Kisame somewhere in the background. "You go, Hidan!"

My brow twitched in annoyance though I had to admit the guy's allure had gone away in a sudden poof. Still, that fish was sooo getting on my nerves.

"This is Liz and she will be joining us," Itachi explained in an emotionless tone.

"As an ally, NOT a member," I quickly added.

"The #$%#?! A #$%#% girl?" Hidan shouted as he glared down at me.

"Please stop swearing. I have delicate ears," I mumbled. He seemed so damn HOT when he was alive and breathing, but his swearing was totally ruining the mood. And the scythe too.

"WHAT THE $%#$%% DID YOU SAY, YOU *&$*#(W*&$*&#&?!"

The scythe rose up to my neck and I felt the scent of impending doom.

"All hail Jashin!!!" I screamed out quickly as for once I clearly remembered something useful.

"Huh?" Hidan was taken aback and his scythe decreased its altitude by about 2 cm and that was more than I could ask for.

"Do not do anything rash, Hidan," I heard Itachi's calm voice and noticed he was already behind him.

The religious fanatic only shook his head as he stared down at me. I mustered a sweet smile as I said, "I shall follow the path of bloodshed and immortal glory for as long as my god Jashin-sama watches over me!"

Gee, right now I could only hope I remembered the right name and didn't overdo it. And it seemed that I did not, as Kisame grumbled somewhere on the other side of the kitchen, "Oh man, not another one! Stupid religious fanatics…"

The scythe suddenly disappeared from my sight as it was now directed at Kisame.

"The $#%#% you #$%#% said! Say that #$$%^&# again and I'll tear all your #$$%^(#$ intestines out!"

Kisame mumbled something, shooting glares at Hidan and me. Meanwhile, I smirked, a new idea popping into my mind.

"YEAH!" I passed by Itachi and halted alongside Hidan. "How dare you look down on our religion and badmouth our brothers and sisters in faith?! Take your words back and praise the almighty Jashin!"

Hidan glanced at me surprised and Kisame's face was worth gold as he gaped at me like, well, like a fish out of water.

"What the… shut it with your fu*** god!" He finally regained his senses and shouted, pointing at me.

I did the Oh-my-freaking-God expression and pointed back at him. "Shun the non-believer! Shuuuuuunnnn!"

Kisame gaped at me again as I continued, "SHUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!"

At that time, everyone else in the room started laughing, including the Mr. Rarest Plant Species in the Universe, and I heard a muffled snicker from behind. I turned around but no one was there.

"#$#&, YEAH! SHUUUUUUUUUNNNN!!!" Hidan added thrusting his scythe up in the air.

I quickly looked around the room for Itachi, but he was not here. I turned around and ran out as curiosity got the best of me, leaving the guys to play by themselves. Just where did that Itachi go?

As I was nearing the end of the corridor I heard a slight snickering sound. I peeked into the hall and noticed Itachi standing with his back against the wall and his one hand over his face. His shoulders were slightly twitching and I grinned, realizing the almighty Itachi Uchiha was fighting a major laughter fit.

I came out of the doorway and leaned against the wall beside him. "You can laugh all you want, you know," I said calmly, smirking at him.

Itachi only glared at me as he turned away. I grinned and said out loud, "Shuuuuuunnn… Shun the fishy, shuuuuuuuuuuunnnnn…"

I was rewarded with a muffled chuckle and so I only grinned wider. "Shuuuuuuuuuunnn."

Suddenly, I felt myself rammed against the wall once again, Itachi's hands on my shoulders, gripping them tightly. Whoopee, a déjà-vu!

"Stop it!" He hissed at me.

I smiled as I whispered, "Shuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnn…"

Itachi's right arm banged just mere centimetres away from my cheek, as he hung his head lower, trying to hold in laughter. Yet, before I could say anything more, he suddenly started laughing like crazy, banging his one hand against the wall. _(Author note: think Naruto episode 186, when Shino got poisoned with the laughter drug. That's how Itachi laughs too ^^ Why? Cause I said so! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!)_

I started chuckling as well, and in a few moments the two of us were laughing together madly. I looked at his smiling face and unexpectedly felt drawn to him. Suddenly, I realized how handsome he was. Not handsome, but hot. Like… TOTALLY HOT.

A gentle smile crossed my lips as I whispered. "You know, you should have some fun once in a while too. It won't kill you."

Itachi glanced at me, his eyes unreadable. He then turned around, cleared his throat and started walking away. I ran up to him and continued walking beside him, yet, Itachi stopped only after a few steps.

"Why are you following me?" His eyes bore into mine, and I could see anger blazing through them.

"I'm not," I answered, shrugging.

"Yes, you are."

"Nope. Strictly speaking, I'm walking beside you, so I'm not following you."

Itachi sighed as he shook his head slightly. "Just go away. The hideout is large enough for us not to meet."

"But I don't know where my room is," I stated calmly.

Itachi glared at me. "YOUR room? The last time I checked, it was MINE."

"Fine," I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not gonna argue with you over some silly little details."

"Well, thank you," Itachi noted sarcastically as he turned away to continue walking.

"So, where is OUR room?" I grinned as Itachi turned around to face me, his eyes glaring at me.

"You are unbelievable," he hissed.

"I know, it runs in the family," I shrugged non-chalantly. "So, um, about that room?"

"It's the same one you woke up today in."

"Oh," I caught up with Itachi as he started walking again. "And which one is it?"

"What do you mean?" he asked irritated.

"Well, I don't remember which one it was," I answered thoughtfully.

"I can't believe you're so dumb," Itachi grumbled silently and I scoffed.

"I heard that."

"And I meant it for you to hear," he hissed as he went up the stairs, me following him closely.

The rest of the journey to my, ahem, our wonderful new room was silent. Well, it didn't last that long after all. Finally, Itachi opened the doors, and to my pleasant surprise, he let me pass first. How gentlemanly of him.

I walked in and stopped in the middle of the room, waiting for Itachi to come in.

"The bathroom is there," Itachi motioned to the doors on my left and smirked. "Feel free to use it any time."

I scowled. He was definitely remembering that time in the inn. It's a pity I don't have the power to alter memories.

I sighed, having decided to ignore his comment or offer or whatever it was and looked around. The room was really simple and just… plain. Yes, that's the word. Plain. And plain equals boring to me. No personality whatsoever.

I glanced at Itachi, who had already lied down on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head, his whole body seemingly relaxed. And that's when I realized one wondrous thing – there was only one bed in this room. ONE, meaning a certain someone is gonna sleep on the floor tonight for there is NO way I'm sleeping in one bed with him.

I cleared my throat as I considered a possibility of him hiding another bed somewhere in this furniture-lacking room. After all, he is a ninja; maybe they know some bed-shrinking techniques…

"Umm… Uh…" I stuttered, thinking as to how I should ask this. "I mean… ummm… I noticed… hmmmm…"

"What is it?" Itachi glanced at me irritated with this Stop-stuttering-or-I'll-kill-you look on his face and I immediately spit it out, my cheeks flushing with all shades of red.

"There's only one bed."

Itachi merely raised a brow as he stared at me baffled.

"I mean… shouldn't there be… two beds?" I asked, feeling overly embarrassed and silly.

"And why would I need two beds?"

I gulped. This was serious. Really. Either he's a village idiot or he's acting as one. I wasn't sure which one was better. But then again, with him being so smart, there was little hope he did not understand what I was talking about.

"Urgh," I grumbled as I walked to him. "If there is only one bed, then where am I supposed to sleep?"

Itachi grinned slightly as he let out a short chuckle. "Wherever you wish."

My brow twitched and I shifted my weight on my right leg. "Well then, I choose the bed."

"Well then, I'm glad you're joining in."

"Na-ah," I shook my head. "I sleep in the bed; you go find some other place."

"No can do," Itachi grinned. "The bed's taken. By me."

"Are you really gonna let a frail girl sleep on the cold and dirty floor?" I made a puppy look as I stared at him hopefully.

"The bed is wide enough for two," Itachi turned away and closed his eyes.

"FINE! Then be a cold-hearted bastard here all alone!" I fumed as I turned around and stormed off the room, anger filling my chest. No way in hell I'm gonna sleep with that jerk in one bed! My mom would kill me if she ever found out!..


	11. Sleeping Arrangements

**And another one today! ^^ Cause I haven't updated for a few days and I'm in a really good mood right now .**

* * *

I fumed and growled while walking along the corridor, staring at the ground in front of me, hardly noticing anything else around me, so it was no surprise that I ended up bumping into someone. As a result, I was once again sitting on the cold floor, contemplating the not so mysterious pain in my butt.

I glanced up only to see Deidara grin. "Sorry, sorry, un."

"Sorry doesn't make the pain go away," I grumbled as I was slowly getting up.

I was helped by a strong arm, pulling me up. It was the red headed puppet master Sasori.

"Um, thanks'," I muttered, surprised. I didn't expect the infamous Akatsuki members to be so helpful.

"What happened?" Sasori asked, staring at me, his head tilted to the right a bit.

"What do you mean?" I asked in a rather rude tone, Itachi's smirking face crawling to my mind immediately. I shooed it away mentally.

"Something's bothering you," Sasori noted,

"Wow, you're a fucking genius," I grumbled irritated.

The guys fell silent and I blushed in embarrassment, realizing they only wanted to help me.

"I'm sorry," I sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, guys. I was just… I guess I was taking it all out on you."

"Un," Deidara nodded. "Well, I know what can help you, un!"

I glanced at him a bit doubtful.

"A welcome party, UN!!!" He shouted suddenly and grinned like a child.

I stared at him baffled while Sasori only sighed and shook his head. "Not again."

I sneered and gripped his wrist. I was not gonna survive through this alone. Oh no, if I was going down, then everyone else was, too.

"Oh, look, Deidara," I exclaimed gleefully. "Sasori is so eager to come too!"

"UN! The more the merrier!" Deidara grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. "Party time, un!"

*** 5 hours later ***

I grumbled as I almost tripped over an empty bottle. It rolled away across the messy room and my eyes trailed after it until it hit someone's leg. I sighed and hugged the pillow and Hidan's cloak closer to me as I slowly made my way towards the doors. The party turned out to be a rather wild one and now half of the Akatsuki members were dead drunk. Some of them (I hardly even remembered their names) were sleeping on the floor or on the bed while some others, who still remained conscious, were in a heated discussion over the most efficient ways of killing enemies. What a suave topic! No comments there.

I tiptoed across the room and opened the doors slowly, afraid it might creak. Now I was damn happy I was a good drinker. I tried not to drink too much and that wasn't very hard as the others were drinking double the norm. Still, I found it strange how the Akatsuki members welcomed me so warmly. Even Hidan wasn't so bad, after all. Perhaps it was due to alcohol or maybe the fact that I was a "fellow believer", but Hidan spent the entire evening around me, acting way differently from what I'd expect from a cold-blooded killer like him. He seemed more of a brotherly figure to me and I felt that I might have made some really interesting friends this evening.

I searched the room with my eyes for Hidan and noticed him sleeping beside Zetsu, grumbling something in his dreams. He looked kind of cute. I snickered and went out, closing the doors behind me as quietly as I could.

I moved across the corridor, my body swaying slightly. Perhaps, I had a tiny bit too much today as well. I carefully counted till the 3rd door on my right and halted in front of it. This should be Itachi's room. I hugged the pillow tighter and opened the doors slowly, peeking into the room. He should already be asleep, right?

* * *

Itachi's POV:

I turned over on the other side, grunting. Just how long does it take to drink a bottle of sake? What in the world is she doing there? I cursed silently as I sat up and grumbled irritated. Should I go get her? No. Never. I already went looking for her, thinking she lost her way, but nooooo. She was having a welcoming party.

I muttered a row of curses and plopped down on the bed, trying to get some sleep, but it never came. Something was bugging my mind and my imagination kept running wild.

I gritted my teeth in irritation. Why do I even care? She's just another bothersome girl. I shifted in my bed, sighing. Something was off this time. There was a weird feeling in my chest area, as if something was stuck in there and it was smothering me. Do I have some heart illness? Pfft. That would be beyond pathetic.

Just then, my ears picked up footsteps in the corridor and I half closed my eyes, pretending to sleep. Judging by the sounds it was Liz. Well, finally, it's right about time she came back. I heard her stop in front of the doors and for some time she seemed to be waiting. Then, the doors slowly opened and I saw her peek into the room. She stared at me for some time, as if trying to make sure I was asleep. I did not move an inch and after a few moments she decided I was sleeping.

I watched her enter the room and tiptoe across it towards the bed. She scowled at my figure and put down a huge pillow she was holding. She then sighed as she sat down on the ground Turkish style and rammed her head with her palms.

"Hugging all the bed by himself. Meanie," she whispered, glaring at my side again.

I managed to hold in a chuckle rising up my throat and remained calm. I wondered how everything she did was so funny. What an interesting girl. I failed to truly understand her. What was she doing there in the forest? Where is she from? Who's her family? What village and clan did she hail from? So mysterious. I bent my brows in thought, trying to remember any clan with similar jutsus to hers, but I failed.

Meanwhile the girl took out a cape and only now did I notice she was also holding onto an Akatsuki cloak. Whose cloak is that? Liz put the cloak around herself and lied down, putting her head on the pillow. Where did she get that cloak? I knitted my brows together in slight irritation. She didn't need to go borrow a cloak to cover herself up. Couldn't she have asked me?

Am I that scary?

I gritted my teeth and turned around. What was I thinking? This is what I wanted, isn't it? Let everyone think that I'm the worst scumbag. Less people will get hurt that way. I closed my eyes and tried to get asleep. I could hear Liz already breathing evenly just a few meters away. Well, that was quick.

I lied for a while, unable to sleep again. Isn't she cold? How come it doesn't bother her? She can get sick, lying like that on the floor. I turned on another side and glanced down at her, sleeping soundly on the ground. How can she sleep so calmly? While I'm lying here wide awake, worried about her? Wait. Me? Worried? I gritted my teeth. That's it. It's not my business if she gets ill. I turned around once again and closed my eyes. Sleep. Just sleep. Yes, just like that. Forget her and sleep.

** 15 minutes later ***

"Argh!" I shot up in my bed and glared at Liz. She was still sleeping, unaware that the last 15 minutes had been the worst in the past few years.

I got up from the bed, bent to her and pulled the cloak off. She mumbled something and hugged herself, her body shivering a bit. I glared at the cloak and threw it somewhere to the corner of the room. Then, I took the bed cover and covered Liz with it. She stirred in her sleep, but soon a smile came to her lips and she pulled the cover closer to her. I smiled. I knew she was cold. Anyone would be cold with just a cape on and she was but a girl.

I bent down to tuck her in and suddenly a weird feeling crossed my mind. I hovered above her, staring at her calm face, her closed eyes with long black eyelashes and soft pink lips. I reached out my hand, brushing her cheek gently. Her skin was a bit cool, but soft to the touch. She stirred again and I watched her eyelids flutter open. Oh, shit.

"Mr. Theodore," she whispered and I realized she was still half-asleep. Suddenly, she reached out her arms and hugged me, pulling me down. I fell on top of her and Liz chuckled.

"You got heavy, Mr. Theodore. You should go on a diet," she muttered and I bent my brows in thought. Who is Mr. Theodore?

"No more honey for you, Teddy…" Liz whispered and realization dawned on me. I sniggered, trying to hold in my laughter. She called her plush toy Mr. Theodore?!

"Umn…" Liz sighed and I tried getting up, but her hold on me was surprisingly strong and I did not want to wake her up. In the end, all I accomplished was rolling to her side.

She hugged me tighter as she whispered. "I'll get you a Mrs. Bear on Christmas, I swear."

That was too much to me and I started snickering. What in the world is she talking about? Buying a teddy bear for another teddy bear? I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the laughter, but she must have heard it anyways as she chuckled too.

"You're laughing Mr. Theodore? You're happy, right?" She shuffled under the cover and rolled closer to me. "I'll buy you a Mrs. Teddy Bear, you'll see."

My chuckle became uncontrollable and I buried my face into a corner of her pillow, desperately trying to muffle it. Meanwhile, Liz drowned into deep sleep, still holding onto me. After I had calmed down a bit, I tried prying her arms open, but to no avail. I did not want to wake her up completely and, actually, soon I noticed her soft body lying next to mine wasn't such a bad thing after all. It felt… rather pleasant. I carefully lifted the covers and got under it, feeling the warmth of her body. She pressed closer to me, her hands still around my neck and I chuckled softly at the situation.

'_Well, we'll sort this out later,_' I thought as I felt sleep crawling to my mind. '_I always get up early, after all._'

Yet, that morning, for the first time in my life since murdering my whole clan, I overslept. That night I dreamed of nothing. No screams of the innocent and no hot flames of the burning houses disrupted my sleep. No ghosts of the past came to visit my consciousness and no condemning eyes glared at me with spite. No little brother, staring at me shocked and unable to grasp the reality, no childish trust changing into pure hate. Just empty nothingness. One does not know how heavenly it is until one relives the worst nightmares of his life every night.

But that night, all I felt was the soft and soothing warmth of the girl next to me. Her even breathing, her calming scent and her gentle arms around me…


	12. Rise and shine! No, wait, fight?

**So, here's another update. As always, thank you all for commenting and adding the story to your favorites and alerts. XD it does feel good, but I think you all know it already :P Enjoy the steamy morning after ^^**

* * *

I moaned slightly as I pressed myself tighter to something warm beside me.

"Mmm, Mr. Theodore…" I whispered, snuggling closer.

'_How great… So it was all a dream_,' I thought to myself, smiling joyfully.

My hand slipped down and my fingertips ran across something smooth and skin-like. Skin-like? But Mr. Theodore was always so fluffy. I opened my eyes slowly, staring in front of me for a few moments, trying to focus my glance. A sleeping face with a calm expression on his face came into my view and it took some time for my sleepy mind to recognize it was Itachi. He had such a relaxed expression on his face I hardly realized it was really him.

'_He looks almost… happy,_' I thought as my eyes trailed down to his bare neck and a well built chest. I brushed my hand across his naked chest, feeling it up with my fingertips. I could feel his muscles under the skin and I held my breath, listening in to hear his heartbeat.

My arm trailed up and bent around his waist, hugging him, as my eyes closed again. What a handsome man Itachi is, after all.

'_Mm… Itachi_,' I smiled contently until my fuzzy brains finally processed the information. '_Wait… Itachi?_'

My eyes shot open and I sprang up, throwing the covers away. It took me only a part of a second to evaluate the current situation. Indeed, there he was, lying just mere centimeters away from me, sleeping soundly like a baby. Bare-chested. Half-naked.

Next to me. Half-naked.

"W-w-waaaah!" I screamed on top of my lungs and my hands reached out for my downy pillow.

Just as Itachi shot up in alert from my scream, my arms came down on him with a pillow, banging the guy straight on the head.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!!"

The poor Itachi grumbled as he tried getting up, but I banged him with a pillow once again, my rage flowing out in currents.

"Wait-"

I shouted out something illegible and the pillow struck his bare-chest.

"Stop it, you-"

The pillow almost landed on the side of his head and it was only due to Itachi's quick reflexes that he managed to block it in mid-air.

"The hell you doing here?!" I screamed enraged. "You freaking bastard!"

I raised the pillow once again only to bring it down on him full force, but this time the half-naked ninja was ready for it and he grabbed the oncoming lethal threat of the pillow with his hands, tearing it away from mine. The pillow tore in pieces from the force he used to pull it and the feathers and fluffs flew up as if snowflakes.

I stared at it baffled for a moment, but not for long, as Itachi immediately grabbed my arms and pushed me down on the ground, pinning my arms just above my head.

"Shut it, you… woman!" He hissed, glaring at me angrily.

For a moment I stared at his angry face, his glaring eyes and messy black hair, and then rage engulfed me once again and I yelled at him even louder than before, "Shut it up yourself, you damn PERVERT!"

I wiggled in his grip, trying to free my hands, but he was too strong.

"Stop screaming, you idiot! You-"

At that moment I brought my knee up and Itachi cursed in pain as I hit his stomach.

"Let me go, let me go, let me gooo!!!" I screamed angrily, squirming beneath him.

Meanwhile, Itachi gripped my wrists strongly with his one arm and then brought the other one down, covering my mouth and muffling my screams.

"I told you to stop shouting, woman," he hissed angrily, his face dangerously close to mine.

I grumbled something in return, but his palm was still over my mouth, and almost no sounds came out. Itachi's lips carved into a smirk, as he stared at my angry eyes.

"Oh, I'm starting to like this," he grinned.

My eyes sent a row of lightning sharp glares at him and I squirmed once again under his strong body. Itachi merely chuckled, his right arm clasping my wrists tighter and his body pressing down to mine even closer. I felt his naked skin brush mine and I couldn't help but feel my heart rate escalate even more than before. And it was not caused only by anger…

While I was contemplating on the strange senses that tingled my nerve cells, Itachi leaned towards me, his face now mere centimeters away from mine. I blinked, as I held my breath, unsure as to what he was trying to do.

He leaned closer to my left cheek and I felt his hot breath on my skin. It sent shivers down my spine and my body froze in both uncertainty and anticipation.

The Uchiha ninja smirked as he whispered my name softly and leaned in towards my left ear. I squirmed just at the moment when his lips touched the lobe of my ear and he licked it lightly, barely touching the skin with the tip of his tongue. I thought my heart will jump out of my chest and I felt incredibly hot, my cheeks blushing all sorts of red color.

"Liz," he cooed into my ear. "I know your secret, dear."

I gulped down as my brains went into a panic session. '_Secret? What secret? I already have too many!_'

"I am sure you will find a very cute wife for your beloved Mr. Theodore," Itachi whispered mockingly, his breath tickling my ear.

I froze in disbelief. Impossible. How did he know? No way, no way.

"Now," Itachi said threateningly. "I'll take my hand away and you will not shout or scream. Understand?"

I only glared at him, mumbling something. He took it as a sign of agreement and took his hand away from my mouth. His other hand was still gripping my arms above my head, as he stared at me, trying to make sure I will not start shouting. I kept silent and he loosened his grip on my arms.

"Good," Itachi sighed. "Just don't scream and we-"

"Scream as in AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled on top of my lungs again, looking at him mockingly.

Itachi covered my mouth with his hand once again, muffling me, and glared at me with eyes that could literally kill.

Yet, just as he opened his mouth to say something, the room doors opened up with a loud bang and Hidan ran in, blowing away locks of his blond hair that fell down on his eyes.

"LIZ!" He shouted out and as his eyes scanned the room and he halted in sheer surprise.

I was lying on the ground amidst messy bedcovers with Itachi hovering on top of me, his arm still holding my arms tightly above my head. I heard Itachi curse underneath his breath as Hidan launched forward, his eyes glinting with pure killing intent.

"I'll $%^%#$%#% kill you, #$#$ ITACHI!"

Itachi sprang up, letting go of me, and blocked the incoming blow. I sat up, rubbing my wrists. Deidara and Sasori already stood by the door as well, watching wide eyed at Itachi and Hidan brawl.

I glared at the two and sighed. This wasn't going to end peacefully, was it? Just why in the world is this happening to me?

I stood up, wondering how we were gonna stop the two.

"Un, you ok, Liz?" Deidara asked as he came closer.

I nodded, watching how Itachi and Hidan exchanged blows and kicks at such a speed I was merely seeing blurs of their movements.

"Can you separate them, Deidara?" I asked and the blond grinned.

"No way in hell would I get between these two, un."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Sasori asked, his eyes boring into mine with slight worry and then trailing down to my wrists, where bruises were slowly forming.

"Yeah, it's… it's just a silly misunderstanding, actually," I lied and averted my eyes to the two ninjas.

"HEY!" I tried getting their attention. "Can you two just STOP for… Oh, great."

I cursed under my breath. "Play."

The time started flowing again and the two resumed fighting. I forgot I shouldn't use words like Stop and Pause.

"Shit," I cursed again and shouted out, "ENOUGH!!!"

The two split up for a moment, each jumping to the other side of the room. Hidan was slightly panting and I quickly walked to him, receiving a glare from Itachi.

"Calm down, Hidan, please. It's just a misunderstanding," I touched his arm reassuringly, but Hidan only cursed and I sighed mentally.

"I'll #*^#$%$% kill him for #$# touching you!!!"

"HIDAN, listen to me, he didn't do anything, ok?"

"Like #$%#$% hell he #$#$%# didn't do anything to you! I #$#% saw him #$%$# touching you all over!"

"Hidan, please," I begged him with my eyes and noticed how his orbs softened a bit. "Look, I was just having a nightmare and I started screaming and, um, kicking around, so… uhhh, Itachi just tried to wake me up, right, Itachi?"

I glared at the latter warningly and the Uchiha nodded grimly.

"Then why did he pin you down to the ground?" I heard Sasori ask and mentally sent him to hell for being too observant.

"$#%#$ YEAH, WHY?!" Hidan shouted glaring at Itachi and I shook my head.

"I told you, I was having a nightmare and I must have... uuhh, tried punching him, so…erm…"

"Wow, you're one dangerous sleeper, un!" Deidara chuckled and I laughed with him, nodding my head.

"Haha, yeah, I sure am."

"You sure he #$$% didn't… do… &#%## anything… to you?" Hidan whispered, trying to withhold his cursing habit.

"Absolutely," I nodded and suddenly hugged him, rubbing his back affectionately. "Thank you for worrying, though. I'm so glad I have you by my side."

I didn't notice Hidan stiffen and blush slightly or Itachi glare at us spitefully, as he gritted his teeth in irritation. Something stirred inside him as he watched Hidan hug me back and press my soft body closer to him. The Uchiha wasn't sure what it was, but suddenly a punch straight to Hidan's face seemed incredibly tempting.


	13. The Call

**I guess it's double update again ^^ And I bet none of you can guess what's coming up now. I say, time to spice things up. .**

* * *

I sat down beside Hidan with my plate of baked eggs and secretly glanced at Itachi, who was standing by the doorway. The Uchiha was glaring hatefully at Hidan, who was quite oblivious to his surroundings as he dug into his food.

"You sure you don't want any?" I asked Itachi, my brow raised. I was feeling slightly guilty for overreacting this morning, but there was no way I would have admitted that. To him, of all the people.

"No," he grumbled back and I grinned mockingly.

"Oh, I see," I drawled and he shot a glare at me.

"What's with the tone?"

"Noooothing…" I chuckled to myself. Forget the reconciliation.

I heard Itachi mumble something and turned to him once again.

"I just didn't know the almighty Uchiha was on a diet," I grinned mockingly at him and watched him fume in anger.

"Un, you're on a diet, Itachi?" Deidara asked him while coming into the kitchen and passing by him.

"I am NOT on a diet!" Itachi hissed, his eyes glaring at Deidara now.

I chuckled as I turned to my plate, smiling happily. I was starting to like this already. Deidara sat down in front of me and grinned happily.

"What do you wanna do today, un?" Deidara smiled at me his wide and happy smile as his eyes glinted with enthusiasm.

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. What are my options?"

Suddenly, Itachi's hand banged on the table just beside me and he hissed angrily, "You are going to train and you have NO other options."

I glanced up at him, but somehow Itachi's angry face only made me laugh and I couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"Someone's in a baaaaad mood today!" I sang out and grinned as Itachi gritted his teeth.

"YOU-" He started but was cut off by Hidan who suddenly jumped up.

"Don't you $#%%^ dare %$^&%$& bully my Lizzy!"

For a moment Itachi stared at Hidan as his eyes narrowed in irritation. "YOUR Lizzy?"

"You have no #$*(##$#$ idea how to #$#$ treat a lady!"

"Oh, and you do?!" Itachi hissed, and I could swear I could see fumes rising.

"Wow, never seen Itachi this angry," Deidara whispered. "Un."

I shrugged. "They look like you two kids fighting for a candy."

"Haha," Deidara laughed. "And you're one hell of a candy, un!"

"U-huh," I rolled my eyes. "Well, the candy doesn't wanna get torn apart."

I quickly stuffed my breakfast into my mouth, ignoring the two bickering guys in the background. Well, more like one cursing and one hissing guy. I was almost done, when I felt something buzz in my pocket and I heard a familiar melody growing louder and louder.

~~~ Oh, I'm a gummy bear; Yes, I'm a gummy bear ~~~

I fished my mobile phone out of my pocket and stared at it in slight wonder.

~~~ Oh, I'm a yummy tummy funny lucky gummy bear ~~~

"Wow," I finally whispered. "My mobile services provider is just unbelievable."

~~~ I'm a jelly bear, cause I'm a gummy bear, Oh I'm a moving ~~~

"What is THAT, UN?" Deidara leaned over, staring at the buzzing little black thing normal people call cellular.

~~~ grooving jamming singing gummy bear ~~~

Hidan stopped his yelling as well and both him and Itachi stared at me and my weird contraption. Meanwhile, I stared at the caller ID, which read Shikyo. Shikyo. THE Shikyo. I shuddered, just now remembering I never did show up at her party… cause I got whisked away to the Naruto world!

~~~ gummy gummy gummy gummy Gummybear ~~~

I pressed the answer call button hastily and put the phone next to my ear, my voice a bit shaky as I said, "Hello?"

"ELIZABETHA CORNELIA ANDERSON!" I flinched at my friend's voice. "Explain yourself RIGHT NOW!"

"Ummm…" I muttered, lost as to what to say. I shouldn't have answered the phone. Seriously.

"Do you have ANY idea how worried I've been?!" Shikyo shouted to my ear. "I thought something happened to you, a robber or some pervert or even worse!"

"Pfft, you sound like my mom," I scoffed as I pushed through baffled Itachi and walked out, heading to the main hall, aside from all the curious eyes and ears.

"Well, I've been trying to reach you for HOURS!!! They said you're out of range!"

"Duh," I said, chuckling to myself, thinking that the fictional world of anime surely wasn't on a list of the countries one could call to.

"Don't you 'duh' ME, girl!" Shikyo screamed angrily into my ear and I flinched again.

"Stop screaming, Shikyo!"

"Then bring you damn ass over here and NOW!"

"Umm…" I knitted my brows in thought. "And where exactly is your 'here'?"

"MY HOUSE, you silly! Have you forgotten my birthday party?!"

"Wha… It's still not over?!" I shouted surprised.

"Over? Are you nuts? We've just started!" Shikyo answered surprised.

"Huh?" I shook my head in confusion. "But it's already been a few days…"

"What few days? It's been only a few hours," Shikyo fell silent for a moment and when screamed into my ear again. "OH MY GOD!!! Are you HIGH?!"

"Wha-" I stammered at her conclusion. "Hell, no!"

"You've been doing drugs! Is that it?! Don't you lie to me, Elizabetha Cornelia Anderson!"

"I'm not!" I yelled out. "Look, it's just that some really incredible things have happened here and that's all. And I'm… well, I'm… kind of in this Naruto world right now…"

"OMG, you ARE high!" She screamed in my ear and I flinched yet again. Ok, perhaps telling the truth was a mistake. A big one.

"Ok, ok. Just don't worry. Breathe…" I could hear her taking some slow deep breaths.

Why don't people ever believe me when I tell the truth?

"Alright. First, I come over and call help. You, you just calm down, just stay where you are-"

"Not like I can go anywhere…" I muttered. "Itachi will seriously cut my head off, haha."

"Oh man, is it THAT bad? Geez, girl, you're in some DEEP shit when I come over!" Shikyo scolded me again and I shrugged. Not like she's gonna find me there. Is she?

"Now if you really DID come over here, that would be like…" I thought for a second. "A really weird miracle."

"Oh, so now you're seeing miracles!" Shikyo sighed on the other side of the phone. "Gosh, what did you take?"

"Um, let me think… Some lightning bolt from the TV, perhaps?" I scoffed.

"TV? Oh, damn, the TV!" Shikyo cursed. "If lightning strikes at it, I'm a gonner!"

I heard some rustling sounds and sighed. Great, now she just has to go turn off the TV. Wait… Is the storm still not over?

"Pft, guess what? They're showing Naruto on the TV!" I heard my friend laugh and an ominous feeling suddenly crossed me.

"Shikyo, WAIT!"

Yet, it was already too late, as far in the other world my best friend already gripped the plug and I only heard the rumbling sounds of thunder and then the beeping signal of my disconnected phone...


	14. The Best Friend

**Yep, another update! As usual, thank you all for reviewing and keeping me writing and editing this! XD As you all have guessed, it's time for another OC in the Naruto world. Hopefully, you'll like the slightly crazy Shikyo, cause if you don't, she'll bug you endlessly. Haha. Anyways, the song used in this chapter is Would I Lie To You Baby by Charles and Eddie. It's a nice and funny song, so look it up if you haven't heard it yet ;)**

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I stood silent for a moment, staring at the phone in my hand. What happened? Is Shikyo alright? And then, I heard screaming and as I looked above something heavy fell on me, pushing me down to the floor.

"GAH!" I pushed the heavy body away from me and as I glanced at it, my jaw dropped down open. A girl with blond hair tied into a pony tail with a few locks falling over her right eye lay beside me, grumbling something under her breath.

"Shikyo?!"

My friend glanced back at me, getting up slowly. "Liz… the hell?!"

She looked around curiously as she rubbed her butt. "Wow, it hurts too much to be a dream…"

"Liz!" I heard Itachi's voice and he ran into the hall, his eyes immediately narrowing down on my friend Shikyo.

"Who is she?" he hissed, his arm reaching for his sword.

"OH MY GOD!!!" I heard Shikyo squeal and she jumped upon Itachi full force, hugging him. "You look SO real!!!"

I stared at the two, eyeing Itachi's twitching brow and his hand gripping the handle of his sword firmer.

"Ok, stop," I muttered before Itachi slashed my friend into two perfect halves and the flow of time around me halted. Some things needed to be explained and Itachi had no need of knowing it.

I walked to them and touched my friend's shoulder, whispering the magical word, "Play".

"Waaah, this guy is so awesome!" She pinched Itachi's cheek. "Nice cosplay… though, why are you so frozen? Hehe! Must be the shock from seeing the awesome me!"

I sighed, thinking how will I ever explain this to her.

*** 30 minutes later ***

"Are you SURE you won't gobble him up?" I asked Shikyo and she nodded.

"Yes, yes. Don't worry," she eyed him mischievously and I sighed.

"This is the fifth time we're doing this, so please, please, please BEHAVE," I glared at her sternly, remembering how I had to stop the time for five times already as each time she'd jump on the poor Itachi. I could only guess how enraged he was by now. It was a wonder how he kept a straight face. And still hadn't severed her head from her neck.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I won't attack him," Shikyo pouted.

"I sure hope you don't, cause he might really kill you this time around. And me, too."

"Meh, just stop the time again then…Gee, I wish I could do it like you do," Shikyo waved her hand nonchalantly and I shook my head in disapproval.

"Play," I said, looking back at Itachi, watching how his eyes widened slightly and then he glared at me hatefully. I felt like I was shredded to pieces just by his glance alone.

Yet, I kept a straight face and smiled widely as I motioned to my friend Shikyo. "This is my friend, Shikyo. So, um, please don't kill her."

Itachi grumbled something as his eyes trailed over to Shikyo and he hissed out spitefully, "What is she doing here? The Akatsuki is a secret organization and we don't welcome non-members here."

Before I could answer him I heard someone curse and I turned to see Hidan with his eyes wide.

"Whoah… Another #$*^% Deidara!" Hidan walked to Itachi and halted beside him, staring at my friend Shikyo. His purplish eyes were wide in surprise as he surveyed my best friend.

"Un, you called me?" Deidara turned up as well and I sighed.

It was true that Shikyo looked kind of similar to Deidara. She had the same color hair and liked to tie it up in a Deidara manner and sometimes she had that stupid cocky grin on her face that actually seemed like it came out straight from an anime. I actually believed it was an after effect of watching too much anime and her devoted 'fanhood' to the Naruto show.

"Wow…" Deidara stared at Shikyo in amazement.

My friend merely grinned happily as she waved her hand. "Hi!"

"You look just like me, UN!" Deidara exclaimed as he pointed at Shikyo. "Are we related?!"

"Yeah, uh," I scoffed. "This is Shikyo and she is your long lost twin sister… un!"

"For real?! I didn't know I had a sister, UN!" Deidara ran up to Shikyo glancing her up and down.

I rolled my eyes, finding it hard to believe he actually bought it.

"I'm not your sister, you dummy!" Shikyo banged him in the head angrily. "Don't believe that idiot so easily!"

"Idiot?" I turned to her fuming. "Just who the hell is the idiot here?"

"You are!" Shikyo stuck out her tongue at me.

"Oh, yeah? Well, the next time I'll let Itachi slash you to his heart content," I stuck my tongue out as well.

The infamous Uchiha merely sighed as he grumbled under his breath, "Kindergarten."

"HEY, I heard that!" Both me and Shikyo shouted in unison and then glanced at each other, giggling.

Itachi merely let out another short sigh and glanced at me sternly, "How did she come in here?"

"Uhhh," I glanced at Shikyo, but she merely shrugged. "I summoned her!" I laughed out. "Yeah, I can do that! Super-wuper Summon Jutsu!"

Itachi arched his brow as his eyes stared at me almost menacingly. "Is that so?"

"Would I lie to you?" I smiled widely at him, trying to seem as innocent as I could. I think I failed though.

"Oh my gosh, you SO reminded me of that one song!" meanwhile, Shikyo grinned happily as she hummed out the melody. "I adore it!"

I chuckled as I nodded. "Duh, me too!"

"What song?" Itachi muttered confused and I grinned.

"Glad you asked, baby!" I skipped a few steps towards Itachi, giggling as I've just thought up of a new way to tease him. Well, what else was I supposed to do? Craziness ran in my blood and now that Shikyo was here it was double the dose. And while Itachi watched me warily I smiled even wider as I put my arms around his neck and sang out:

"Look into my eyes, can't you see they're open wide? Would I lie to you, baby? Would I lie to you?" My hands trailed down to his half bear chest as Itachi was wearing only his half buttoned shirt.

"Don't you know it's true? Boy, there's no one else but you," my fingers ran up and down his chest, touching it feather lightly as I tried my best to ignore his piercing eyes narrowing down on me with every passing second. "Would I lie to you, baby, yeaaah?"

Itachi gripped my teasing fingers as he finally pushed me away, hissing, "Stop joking with me!"

I put on a sad mimic on my face as I fell to my knees and reached out my hands to him, putting on a begging expression and singing yet another line of the song, "I'm telling you, baby, you will never find another boy… in this heart of mine…would I lie to you, baby? Would I lie to you?"

"LIZ," Itachi grumbled and I felt real menace in his voice, so I giggled sheepishly as I waved my hand and stood up from the ground.

"Meh, you're no fun, Itachi-KUN!" I turned around and smirked at my friend Shikyo, who was giggling madly at my short performance. Somehow, since Shikyo came my spirits have been way up, even though I did feel strange the moment she went and hugged Itachi. A weird stinging feeling somewhere in my chest… How odd.

"UN, you've got some voice, Liz!" Deidara grinned happily. "You can sing any time to ME, un!"

"^&%$ yeah, don't waste your pretty voice on that %^#$ Itachi!" Hidan glared at Itachi and received a similarly hateful glare from the Uchiha.

"Watch it, Hidan!" The Uchiha ninja hissed as he grabbed my arm and turned my around. "Enough of games! Where did she come from?"

I giggled, still high on happiness, "The land of TVs and PCs and wireless communication!"

Shikyo chuckled as she raised her arm up in the air, "And the all high and mighty Internet!"

"Heck, yeah!" I grinned merrily.

"I have no idea what you two are talking about!" Itachi spat out angrily.

I yanked my hand out of his and stuck my tongue out, "That's the whole point, silly!"

"This is no joke, Liz," he towered over me with his muscular body and I gulped at his menacing tone.

Luckily, my friend Shikyo pulled me out and hugged my shoulders, winking at Itachi.

"Oh, come on, I'm Lizzy's friend, where's your hospitality?"

"UN! Lizzy's friends are our friends too!" Deidara rose his arm up and grinned.

"Speak for yourself!" Itachi hissed out as he glared at my friend suspiciously.

I bit my lip and glanced at Itachi, fully understanding he wasn't joking. Yet, Shikyo was my best friend.

"Shikyo really is my precious friend," I said, looking Itachi in the eyes. "Please, don't be angry with her. If it's anyone at fault that she's here, then it's me. So, umm… I'm sorry?"

For a while Itachi just stared at me with his piercing black eyes and then he just turned around mumbling out, "Fine."

I watched his back getting further away as I contemplated on the sudden change of his opinion. I didn't expect him to give up so suddenly. I was sure he was gonna drag both me and Shikyo to Pein right away.

"Whoah, he seems even grimmer than on TV," Shikyo whispered. "Still, he's HOT!"

I chuckled and shook my head, trying to push Itachi out of it. "Come on, we were just having breakfast."

So, I grabbed Shikyo's hand and dragged her with me to the kitchen, where my unfinished baked eggs were getting colder by the minute.


	15. Who's up for Training?

**Again, thanks' all for reviewing**** my story**** so kindly. Hopefully, you'll like this update too ^^**

* * *

Shikyo sat down beside me by the table and shook her head when I offered her some of my cold breakfast.

"Nah, I'm still full from my birthday cake."

"Oh, yeah, the cake," I sighed. "Damn, I wanted to eat that."

"Un, it's your birthday today?" Deidara asked enthusiastically as he plopped down on the chair in front of us.

"Yeah," Shikyo grinned. "I was having one hell of a party!!!"

"I LOVE parties!" Deidara chuckled. "We had one yesterday too. It was a BANG, UN!"

Shikyo answered something in return, but my attention was caught by Hidan, who ignored Deidara's rants and leaned back near some cupboards, positioning his scythe in front of him. I watched warily how he pulled out a piece of cloth from his coat pocket and started cleaning his blades. His lips carved into a soft smile and I suddenly thought that a weapon to a ninja must hold some special meaning. At least, from the way he held it so gently and that loving look in his clear eyes, I could guess the scythe was like a baby to Hidan.

'_How queer,' _I pondered._ 'I always thought he was just a psychotic maniac too much into his stupid religion, but looking at him like that, he looks so… so amazingly cute and innocent.'_

I let out a sigh, '_Even if it IS a scythe he's holding onto.'_

As my eyes trailed away from Hidan to his scythe, my thoughts somehow returned to Itachi. _'Is he different from what I imagine him to be too? Just like Hidan… Is there a softer side to him? There must be… have I been prejudicing all this time?'_

I was woken up from my deep contemplations by a nudge to my side and I looked up at Shikyo, my eyes still a bit unfocused.

A cocky grin parted her rosy lips as she whispered to me, "What are you daydreaming about, girl?"

I shook my head and smiled, "Nothing much."

"Ohh, I know," Shikyo grinned even wider with that cocky all knowing smirk on her face. Sometimes I seriously hated when she did it, cause it meant she had yet another mysteriously crazy plan in her head. "Don't be so shy, this IS the Akatsuki we're talking about…"

I knitted my brows in confusion as I retorted, "And what exactly are we talking about?"

Shikyo just giggled and waved her hand, "Meh, you know the drill."

I raised my brow in wonder, but I didn't get the chance to ask as Shikyo suddenly hugged me affectionately. "You know, Lizzy, THIS is the best present ever!"

"Oh my goodness, the present!" I yelped. "I forgot to congratulate you and I don't even have my present for you here…"

"Are you kidding me?!" Shikyo screamed. "This is the Akatsuki, baby! And I don't care if I got drunk till I lost my consciousness and perhaps this very minute I'm rolling somewhere under my sofa among empty beer bottles dreaming this weird dream or if we both are high on some fucked up shitty drugs, we're gonna rock this world!!!"

I laughed out as I nodded my head enthusiastically. "Hell, yeah!"

Deidara jumped up, chuckling as he shouted out, "This calls for another party, UN!"

I stared at him baffled, "But we've just had a party yesterday!"

"UN! And we're gonna have another one today!!!" Deidara grinned happily as he nodded his head. "Un, un! I must run to the town for some supplies though!"

"Supplies?" I heard a yawn and turned to the doorway to see Sasori. "What for?"

"Un! We're gonna have a party tonight!!!" Deidara grinned idiotically.

"Again?" Sasori averted his gaze to Shikyo, who stared at him in amazement. "And you are?"

"Oh, um, this is my friend Shikyo," I introduced her to Sasori, smiling a bit.

He nodded in acknowledgment, as always not showing too many emotions.

"This is… SASORI!!!" Shikyo squealed and almost jumped from her chair, but I held her in place, whispering, "No gobbling him up, Shikyo!"

"Eeeeh?! But he's so cute…" She pouted.

Sasori raised his brow in slight wonder and then shook his head, "I'm outta here."

"What?!" Deidara jumped up from the chair he just sat on again. "No, no, no! You can't do that, un!"

"Watch me," Sasori murmured quietly as he turned around and left, Deidara running after him, shouting something about needing help for getting supplies.

Shikyo chuckled and I sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm in some kind of a crazy house…"

"Ohhh, come on!" Shikyo nudged me. "It's not THAT bad, is it?"

I shrugged.

"Oh, I know! Let's go for walk!" She smiled at me and I nodded my head in agreement, but my plans were immediately ruined by non other than Itachi.

"No walks for you two," he stated contently from the doorway and smirked at me. There was something in that smirk that unnerved me. "Time for your training, Liz."

I gulped and chuckled nervously. "Now?"

"Now," Itachi grinned and my heart fell to my boots.

"Wow, you get a private training session with Itachi?!" Shikyo grinned. "Darn, you're lucky, girl!"

I laughed sheepishly, thinking whether it actually could be called luck or not. Itachi motioned for me to follow him as he turned around and I got up obediently. Well, what else was I supposed to do?

I walked out of the building together with him, Shikyo following us as well, and gasped in slight surprise. This was the first time I was out and I had not seen how the hideout looked outside before, cause I was shamefully unconscious at the time I was brought in. It seemed that the main doors led out into a huge cave with several pathways arching off in front of me. The cave walls glinted with slight bluish light and I could swear I saw gems sticking out.

"Are those… diamonds?" Shikyo whispered.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Well, if they are, at least the Akatsuki will never run out of money…"

"They never showed that in the anime," Shikyo grumbled. "Those bastards – left out the best part, as always."

I chuckled as I followed the silent Itachi into one of the paths and then out into a forest clearing. The sunlight blinded me for a minute and after my eyes adjusted a little I took in my surroundings. The clearing was rather large and surrounded by high trees in almost a perfect circle. On the further side of the clearing I saw some dummies standing and I realized they were specially built for training.

"Wow," I muttered. "This place is incredible. I had no idea there were such training grounds here."

Itachi smirked at me. "This is where we train and battle with each other."

I walked further into the clearing, looking around, Shikyo still following me. We were too busy with exploring to even notice Hidan and Kisame join our little company in the clearing. They came out of the same path as us and halted beside Itachi. Kisame nodded to Itachi and leaned onto the wall, watching me with slight irritation. Meanwhile, Hidan shot a short glare at Itachi, as his fingers pressed the handle of his scythe firmer.

* * *

Itachi's POV:

Oh, great. And what is that religious lunatic doing here? As if Liz alone wasn't enough of a trouble for me, now there's also her friend to deal with. But, of course, that's not all. That weirdo Hidan just has to stick to Liz like glue.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him straight out and Hidan turned to me, his eyes glaring at me coldly.

"I $%#& walk where I $^^$ want!"

My brow twitched slightly as I retorted, "You've got no reason to be here."

"%^& I DO!" He shouted at me, shooting hateful glares. "I don't f#%#%# trust you! You $%^$ touch her in the #$%#% wrong way and you'll #$%#^% feel the wrath of Jashin!"

He doesn't trust me? He's even threatening me?! What the hell is that supposed to mean? I narrowed my eyes in anger but before I could spit out what I thought, Kisame preceded me.

"What are you two so riled up about?" Kisame raised his brow. "Did I miss something?"

I sneered at him, calming myself down. "Nothing."

Quite wondrously, Hidan kept silent and as I wondered why, I heard footsteps and Liz with Shikyo halted near us.


	16. Playing Dirty

**Thanks' for reviewing, guys, here's another chapter for all of you! ^^**

* * *

We returned to Itachi's side and I sneered at Kisame, who merely grinned contently. I never liked fish too much, especially the overgrown ones. And Kisame was one huge fish I just couldn't handle too well.

"What are you guys talking about?" Shikyo smiled happily.

"Just discussing some training exercises," Itachi answered calmly as he motioned to me and passed me by. "You all stay here. Liz, you come with me."

Hidan grumbled something and seemed to have let out a row of silent curses and I looked at him questioningly.

"LIZ!" I heard Itachi yell for me and let out a sigh, casting one last glance at Shikyo and then turning to follow Itachi.

I was, however, stopped by a low chuckle coming from Kisame.

"Yo, Itachi, you're gonna play around with this girl?" He grinned with his pale blue lips. "Why don't you let me do it?"

At these words, Kisame drew out his sword, his eyes glinting dangerously. "I'll train her good!"

I scoffed as I noted in a sarcastic tone, "I don't need swimming lessons, thank you very much."

Itachi let out a soft chuckle and Kisame growled at me as he cursed, "I'll definitely kill you one day, you little runt!"

"HEY, don't you #$%%$& dare curse my sweet Lizzy!" Hidan jumped up, pointing his scythe thingy at Kisame.

"Pfft, what's up with you today?" Kisame eyed Hidan in slight wonder.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I felt like I've just gained an overprotective brother. A psychotic, religious fanatic brother… Suave.

"No one's killing anyone," Itachi retorted as he suddenly smirked at me. "_**I**_ will be training you today, Liz."

I gulped as I looked at him warily. "Could you PLEASE not smirk that way when you're saying it?"

"Why? Something wrong with my smile?" Itachi smiled at me almost sweetly and that brought shivers down my spine. Itachi. Smiling. Sweetly. ARGH!!! The end of the world is nigh!

My horrible revelations were interrupted by his soft chuckle and Itachi motioned for me to come to him. I cast a glance at Hidan, but he was busy swearing at Kisame. So much for a "big brother". Shikyo, however, gave me a wink and a reassuring smile as she sat down on the ground beside the entrance. Now she was taking all of this rather smoothly.

I sighed as I stepped closer to Itachi. Now I stood in front of him, only a meter away. I had to slightly raise my head to meet his eyes and suddenly I realized he was quite tall. That, or I was too small.

The latter, most probably.

"What kinds of Taijutsu do you already know?" Itachi asked and I raised my brow at him.

"Sorry, what?"

Now it was his turn to raise a brow. "I said, Taijutsu?"

"English, please?"

"Hand to hand combat?"

"Oh, that!" I laughed. "Why didn't you say so from the beginning?"

"I DID," Itachi grumbled.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, sorry, I have no knowledge of all that ninja stuff."

Itachi stared at me surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I already told you – I'm not skilled in that. I don't know how to fight," I replied.

"You don't… at all?!" Itachi gaped at me baffled. "That's not possible! What kind of a family were you raised in?"

"Umm, a normal one," I rolled my eyes.

Itachi sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, "This is gonna be tough."

"Pft," I scoffed. "And you're telling me."

"Fine, we'll start from the very beginning," Itachi said. "First, try punching me. Or kicking."

"Kick you?" I arched a brow in mild surprise.

"Yes, kick me."

"You want me to kick you?" I asked again confused.

"I did say so, didn't I?" Itachi answered a tiny bit irritated now.

I grinned. "Didn't know you were a masochist…"

Itachi grumbled something in return, piercing me with one of his glares. "Just kick or punch me, will you?"

"Okaaay, you asked for it," I grinned. "Ready?"

"Of course," he mumbled, staring at me almost mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah, you were born ready, just like Chuck Norris," I rolled my eyes as I brought my hands up and grinned, spreading my fingers apart and bending them like claws.

I bet Itachi didn't expect me to land a punch on him. And, actually, normally I wouldn't. But I was not gonna do it normally, was I? Time to play dirty!

I moved my hands a bit as I grinned at him. "Now, watch my hands, Itachi-kuuuun…"

Itachi directed his gaze at my hands, arching his brow in slight wonder.

I let out a short half evil cackle as I screamed, "TIGER CLAW!!!" and while Itachi still stared at my hands, expecting a punch, I suddenly brought my knee up and kicked him lightly in his crotch, trying not to kick too hard as I did not want to hurt him too much.

The Uchiha ninja immediately bent down glaring at me hatefully as I laughed out loud, "Works every time!"

Itachi grumbled something in return, but stayed crouched and I bent towards him in a slight worry.

"Hey, you alright?" He kept silent and I gulped. "I-I didn't mean to kick you this hard…"

Then, I heard a scoff and before I could even react I was pushed to the ground and Itachi straddled me with a mocking grin on his face.

"Never show pity to your enemy," he said, smirking slightly and I groaned.

"THE $%^$%# FUCK YOU'RE DOING?!"

I yelped as the huge scythe stopped in air mere centimeter away from Itachi's neck.

The Uchiha averted his gaze to Hidan and I noticed a slight glint in his eyes, yet, his voice was as calm and cold as ever, "If you're going to disturb us, you might as well leave."

"YOU ^$$%^-"

"I'm fine, Hidan," I flashed him a smile. "We're just training. It's only natural I'd fall."

The Jashin believer grumbled something as he retracted his scythe. Itachi got up and stepped away as he suddenly grinned. "Fine, if you want to, you can go train her. I'll see how you do."

"Eh, really?" I glanced up at him surprised.

Hidan only sent a row of curses as he helped me get up from the ground.

"So, how is it gonna be?" Itachi smirked and Hidan narrowed his eyes in anger.

"&^%&, I'll train her better than you!"

"Hey, hey, if Lizzy's training with Hidan, can I train with Itachi?" Shikyo grinned as she ran up to me.

"You want to train too?" Itachi raised his brow in slight surprise.

"Yeah, I'm rather good at Kung Fu!" Shikyo smiled and I sighed.

That was true. She's been learning Kung Fu since early childhood. No wonder she wanted to spar with someone as strong as Itachi.

"Kung Fu?" Itachi looked at her questioningly.

"Umm, it's sort of a… Taijutsu in where I come from," Shikyo nodded.

Itachi shrugged as muttered, "Fine, let's see what it is."

"YAY!!!" Shikyo squealed in joy. "Now this is gonna be fun!"

She grinned and immediately charged forward swinging a punch towards Itachi. He blocked it easily, but I noticed surprise in his black eyes. Somehow, I felt a strange stinging feeling inside my chest as I watched them exchange blows and kicks. She was really good. I stared at them fight, thinking that perhaps Itachi was far more happy to fight someone more equal to spar with. After all, I knew nothing of fighting and could do just a simple trick for self-defense purposes.

I let out a sigh, wondering why my heart started beating faster and a strange bitter taste lingered in my mouth, as I stared at Itachi's smirking face with a strange smile on his lips while he battled with my best friend.

* * *

*** Later that evening ***

I cupped the glass with sake in my hand as my eyes trailed away from laughing Shikyo to Itachi who stood leaning on the wall, glaring at me openly. Just why in the world is he angry at me now? If someone was to be angry then it was me, right? I looked down at the cup as anger flashed in my eyes. He told he'd train me, but instead he sparred with Shikyo for half a day and then went away somewhere, leaving me with Hidan. All day I learned fighting tips from Hidan and my friend Shikyo while listening to Kisame's mocking. Not the best of my days here, I might add.

Moreover, it was not my fault that Deidara decided to have another party. Itachi didn't have to come if he didn't want to. I grumbled as I gulped down the remaining drink in my cup and put it down on the table. Perhaps, it was time for me to go to sleep, but even the thought of ending up in the same room as Itachi again seemed rather repulsive right now.

I shifted uncomfortably on Deidara's bed and sighed once again. Just why in the world is this happening to me?

"Hey, Liz? Liiiiiiiz?" I flinched and looked up at Deidara.

"Sorry, what?"

"Are you in, Liz?" He asked grinning.

"Of course she's in!" Shikyo laughed as she pulled me down from the bed to the ground.

"No, she's not!" I heard Itachi grumble as he stepped towards me and glared at me almost warningly.

I narrowed my eyes in a sudden flow of anger and sat down beside Shikyo on the ground. "Oh, yes, I'm in!"

"LIZ!" Itachi hissed out menacingly, but it was too late already as Shikyo hugged me and chuckled.

"It's gonna be SO much fun!!!" She smirked at Itachi. "Why don't you join in too?"

Itachi grumbled something in return and I leaned to Shikyo, whispering, "Um, what did I just sign up for?"

My friend grinned mischievously as she put an empty bottle on the ground and spun it. I watched it spin and suddenly realized I was sitting in a circle among a few of other Akatsuki members.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath and Shikyo laughed.

"That's right, girl! Seven minutes in heaven, COMMENCE!!!"

* * *

_NOTE: The move Tiger claw was not invented by me, I've taken it from a movie "The New Guy". Watch it, if you haven't done so yet. It's HILARIOUS!!! :) Also, I am aware I am doing a cliche thing again, but meh... this is story is full of them already, haha XD_


	17. Spin the Bottle

**I've received more than 100 reviews! My record so far! . Thank you so much, guys! Please, keep reading and reviewing! And now, time for the spin the bottle game! Mwhahahahaaha!!! XD**

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I sighed as I took a quick peek at the ones sitting in a circle. To the left from me there was my friend Shikyo and to my right sat Tobi and I arched my brow in slight wonder as to what he was actually doing here. It was way beyond my understanding as to how he was gonna participate in this event with that mask of his on. To the left of Shikyo sat Deidara, who seemed overly joyous at the prospect of playing this sinful and absolutely ludicrous game. Next to him sat Sasori, as calm as ever, and I wondered if his lips ever bent into a crazy smile like Deidara's did.

"Un, Hidan, sit down here too!" Meanwhile, Deidara exclaimed and I watched how Hidan plopped down right in front of me slightly bewildered. I smiled at him meekly, thinking I'll never ever say 'Yes' again, when I have no idea what the question is.

"Hidan is playing too?" Itachi grumbled obviously not content and Deidara only nodded enthusiastically.

"We all are playing, UN!"

Surprised I watched Itachi curse under his breath as he suddenly sat down beside Hidan, barking out, "Kisame, you sit too!"

"WHAT?!" Kisame roared. "Like hell I-"

"SIT," Itachi hissed and to my utter shock Kisame obediently sat down between Itachi and Tobi, peeking questioningly at Itachi.

I sighed. This was so NOT good.

"Come on, come on, let's start!!!" Shikyo grinned happily as she spun the bottle.

I watched it spin around vigorously and then slow down bit by bit until it finally came to a stop, pointing to none other than Deidara.

The two glanced at each other and giggled, while standing up at the same time. Shikyo quickly cast a glance at me and winked mischievously. I chuckled as I had to admit it - she had more backbone than I ever would. Shikyo and Deidara slipped into the wall-closet and I sighed, ramming my chin with my hand, while my elbow rested on my knee. I heard some giggles coming from the closet and I was pretty sure Shikyo was having the time of her life. I let out another short sigh. 7 minutes. In heaven, aka the tight and space-deprived closet. Some heaven that is. I averted my eyes from the wooden doors and took a look at the Akatsuki sitting in the circle. Now this was a problem. What was I gonna do in that closet with one of them? I gulped at the thought of my partner being Kisame. I was sure I could handle Deidara or Sasori or Hidan at that matter… heck, even Tobi was not much of a threat, was he? But Kisame… He'd just strangle me, for sure. I'd be dead even in less than 7 minutes.

And there was Itachi too. Oh, gosh… Itachi. I gulped as I took a quick peek at him. He was glaring. At me. Great, just great. I still had no idea what he was angry for and I wasn't even sure I wanted to know. No, perhaps, not.

While I was contemplating though, the 7 minutes passed and I heard the soft click of the doors opening and Shikyo came out together with Deidara. They were still giggling and I watched them sit down warily. What were they doing there? On the other hand, perhaps it's better not to ask.

Then, I felt a soft nudge to my ribs and Shikyo motioned to the bottle on the ground.

"Everyone's waiting, Lizzy!" She giggled and I gulped, shaking my head.

"Um, perhaps someone else wants to go first?"

"Who else?" Shikyo frowned. "Your turn, your turn!"

"UN, spin the bottle!" Deidara exclaimed, his eyes glinting with enthusiasm.

I let out a short sigh as I reached out for the bottle and spun it forcefully. The bottle spun around and around and my heart skipped a beat with each turn.

'_Please, please, please, let it be someone else, anyone else, but Itachi…or Kisame…no, better Kisame than Itachi – at least it would be over fairly quickly… Oh, God, what did I get myself into?!_' I shut my eyes and I opened them only when I heard yelps of surprise and Shikyo chuckled, slapping lightly on my shoulder.

I glanced down at the bottle and then at the person it was pointing to and a huge wave of relief flushed over me. Perhaps, there is God somewhere up there, after all.

It was Sasori.

He stared at me with his usual calm eyes and I stared back at him, my mind running around like crazy.

'_Oh, my Gosh…What am I gonna do? It's Sasori… Of course, it's better than Kisame or Itachi… or Tobi… But still…Why do I suddenly feel so nervous?'_

Sounds of rustling woke me up from my daydreaming and I watched how Sasori stood up, still as calm as ever.

Shikyo elbowed me again and so I stood up as well, a bit rushing. My friend rose to her feet too and pushed me towards the closet. Sasori entered the closet and I went in after him, sighing. Shikyo grinned as she closed the doors and before they shut completely I noticed Itachi glaring my way angrily.

I shrugged as I grumbled and somehow turned to where Sasori was supposed to be. It was rather dark in here, so I couldn't see him clearly. I blinked my eyes a few times and waited for my eyesight to adjust to the dimness of the empty closet. There wasn't much space here, just like I expected and as I moved my arm up to brush away a lock of my hair, it hit Sasori's side.

"Oh, sorry," I whispered, trying to distinguish his face in the duskiness.

He remained silent and so I brushed away the impertinent lock and stood quiet as well. The silence would have dragged on even longer, but I was getting rather uncomfortable and so I just HAD to say something, anything at all.

Thing is, when I get uncomfortable, I start blabbing all the wrong things and this time was no exception.

"So, um," I whispered. "What would you like to… uhhh… do?"

As the words left my mouth, I mentally slapped myself. Twice. Yet, Sasori kept quiet for a while and he didn't move even a bit, so I thought that maybe he didn't hear me. Or, perhaps, he was smart enough to ignore me. _'The latter one, most probably,'_ I noted to myself.

And then, he suddenly replied quietly, his voice as silent as a breeze, "I'd like to go to the restroom."

My eyes widened and I thought I misheard it, "You… what?"

"I'd like to go to the restroom," he repeated quietly again and I stared at his figure in the dark.

"Pfft!" I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the chuckle, but it just kept rising.

I then drew in a deep breath and held it in for a while, trying to calm down. He just wants to go to the bathroom. It's normal. Really, really normal. Any guy locked up in a tight closet with a young girl would certainly feel an urge to… go to the restroom?! I gulped down the impertinent chuckles and tried gathering myself up.

"Well," I finally muttered almost coolly. "You can just go after we leave the closet."

"But I need to go now," Sasori replied calmly and I just couldn't help but snigger. Trying to muffle the chortles I clutched onto his chest and bowed my head, low sniggers still coming out of my lips.

"I don't find it very funny that I'm feeling sick," Sasori said in a whisper and then it hit me. He was feeling sick… as in 'I wanna puke' sick?!

I pushed away from him hurriedly, all of my joy dissipating immediately.

"You're feeling SICK?!" I whispered hoarsely and noticed him nod.

"I can't drink," he noted and then made a slight gagging sound.

"No, no, no!" I now said half aloud. "Wait! Not here!!! DON'T!"

"I…" Sasori shook his head helplessly as he clutched my shoulder and bowed his head.

"Not the chest!" I gasped and pushed him.

"I'm gonna-," he whispered and then gagged again.

"No, get away from me!" I shouted a bit too loud while I started struggling to back away from him in the little space I had.

Sasori moved around uncomfortably as he grunted, "Well, I can't hold it any longer!"

I screamed and then suddenly felt myself falling, which only made me scream even louder. Apparently, my back was facing the closet doors and they just got open abruptly, resulting in me falling out of the closet and down to the ground. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Someone's strong arms grabbed me in time and lifted me up to my feet with almost no effort.

Meanwhile, Sasori darted out of the closet with his hand on his mouth and he was out of the room in a blink of an eye.

"What the #%^#$^#$ did that #$%#$% do to you?!" Hidan roared and his pale face appeared in my face. Yet, I just couldn't help it as the comicality of the whole situation finally got to me and so I laughed out, shaking my head.

I just laughed and laughed, chuckles and sniggers rocking my small body, which was still in a strong grip of someone's hands.

"Liz?" I heard my Shikyo's voice, but I just couldn't stop laughing my ass off.

"I think Sasori got sick, un!" Deidara commented and all I could do was nod. "He and his puppets were never good with drinking."

I sniggered some more, nodding my head vigorously, while I tried getting out of the tight arms that held me. I lifted up my head to look at the one that caught me and my eyes widened upon meeting the dark and black ones of Itachi.

He let go of me and turned around abruptly, murmuring quietly, "Idiot."

I gritted my teeth in anger and kicked him in the leg lightly, "Oh, shut up, you… Mr. Perfect!"

He whirled around glaring at me and, perhaps, I would have gotten into a yet another fight with him if Shikyo didn't grab my arm and drag me towards the bottle on the ground.

Apparently, the game was far from being over.


	18. Spin the Bottle 2

**To celebrate the 100+ reviews, double update!!! XD**

* * *

"Meh, let's resume playing!" Shikyo grinned happily as she plopped down and I sat beside her.

"Un!" Dedara agreed and a bright smile stretched his lips once again.

And so, all of us minus Sasori took our places in a circle around the bottle yet again and I let out a short sigh as I realized my next time in the closet might not be as funny and lucky as this one.

I quickly stole a glance at Itachi, who was watching me somewhat angrily now. I stared at him for a few seconds and then stuck my tongue out at him.

His eyes bore into mine with a heavy glare and I looked away with a short snort. Stupid Itachi…

Meanwhile, the bottle spun on the ground with such force and vigor I cocked my brow at the one who spun it.

"Tobi is a good boy!" He exclaimed happily and I rolled my eyes. If I remembered it correctly, he was anything BUT a good boy.

Everyone watched the bottle spin and it just went round and round. I even thought perhaps it wouldn't stop, but it finally came to a halt and its neck pointed to none other than… Kisame.

Kisame gaped at the bottle and everyone else gaped at Kisame.

"Tobi is a good boy!"

Kisame shot up and glared at Tobi, "I'm outta here!"

"Wha-" Shikyo gasped. "But…"

She fell silent after Kisame gave her a murderous look and I snickered. Now that was something.

"But Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi tugged Kisame's sleeve and the latter roared in rage as he flew past us all and through the doors.

"No freaking way I'm doing this!" He growled somewhere in the corridor and I watched Tobi run out after him asking him why in a rather innocent fashion. I chuckled again and shook my head. Well, all is well when it ends well.

"I think we'll soon run out of people," Shikyo then noted and sighed.

I merely shrugged. All the better for me. No people, no spin the bottle game. No spinning bottles, no seven minutes in Heaven, oh, cross that out – no seven minutes in Hell.

"Your turn, Itachi, un!" Deidara exclaimed and I looked up at the Uchiha.

Oh, great. Just great…

Itachi glanced at me and a small smirk came up his lips. He then spun the bottle ever so lightly and it moved slowly as in a slow-motion movie. I watched in fear and suddenly I froze in realization – Itachi was targeting me. But why?..

I didn't get the chance to find that out though as the bottle slowly came to a halt, but it was not pointing to me. It missed me by a few centimeters and stopped in front of Shikyo. I heard her squeal quietly and I glanced up at Itachi wonderingly. Was I imagining it? Did he miss or did he target Shikyo from the very beginning? Which was it?

Yet, his expression was completely blank as he rose up. Shikyo shot up, grinning from ear to ear and they moved towards the closet. I felt my heart-rate escalate and I clutched my shirt, my brows knitted together. What is happening? What is this strange feeling? I breathed in more air and shook my head, watching the closet doors close behind Itachi and Shikyo.

"Un, she seemed really happy!" Deidara grinned and I nodded.

Well, duh. Shikyo has always liked Itachi. It must be a dream come true for her to be with him in that tight and completely closed closet. Little space between them. Darkness. Seven minutes.

I gulped and shook my head again. '_Snap out of it, Liz, just snap out of it,_' I told myself, but it wasn't that easy.

The next seven minutes were the longest I had ever spent. I just sat there almost calmly, but my head was filled with worries. Was Itachi targeting Shikyo from the very beginning? Why? Did he like her that much? Did he found her pretty and smart and funny? Well, they did spend half of the day sparring together. And, he seemed interested. Was he falling for her?

He didn't refuse to go to the closet with her, after all. They must be making out there right now. I scoffed silently and turned away, trying not to look at the closet doors. No, no, no. I will not think of them together. I should be happy. Shikyo must really be in seventh heaven now. Lucky her, huh. Wait, lucky?! Why lucky? I don't even like Itachi…do I?

I bit my lip and shot up from the place I was sitting at.

"Liz?" Hidan looked up at me wonderingly and I flashed him a smile.

"I just need something to drink," I muttered and headed to the table where the drinks stood.

I grabbed a bottle of juice, poured myself a cup and gulped it down in one shot. Yet, my mouth still felt dry and I had a hard time breathing. Just what in the world was wrong with me? I shook my head as I realized I wanted Shikyo and Itachi to get out of the closet. The sooner, the better.

Was I being jealous?!

No, no, no. That's just plain impossible. '_I can't be jealous. I don't like Itachi. He's just a homicidal lunatic. Come on, he's not even real!!!_' I slapped my cheeks gently, trying to bring myself to my senses, but that didn't help.

'_I can't like him. It's just… just outrageous!_' I thought to myself. '_Come on, Liz, you're just feeling a bit worried… After all, Itachi was the first one you met. And Kisame. But the fish guy doesn't count. Oh, God… What is wrong with me?!_'

I shook my head and took another cup of juice, this time trying to drink it slowly, savouring the taste.

By the time I gulped it down, the doors of the closet opened up and I turned to Shikyo and Itachi surprised.

"Huh?" Deidara glanced at them as well. "You still have 3 minutes left."

"We're already finished," Itachi muttered and my eyes widened in shock.

Finished? Finished?! What is THAT supposed to mean?

I glanced over at Shikyo, but she was incredibly quiet and avoided my eyes. I plopped down next to her and glanced at Itachi again. He was expressionless and looked rather calm. I looked at Shikyo again and this time she turned to me, giving me a wide grin. Yet, I felt something was amiss. What in the world had happened?

Meanwhile, I heard the sound of the bottle spinning and glanced at it, thinking whose turn it was gonna be now. I watched the bottle spin quietly, my thoughts still lingering over Itachi, Shikyo and the closet, but it all were soon gone as the bottle stopped right in front of me.

I gulped and looked up at the person who'd just spun it. Hidan? Wow. I was gonna spend seven minutes in a closet with a religious fanatic who walks around with a scythe. That's just… wow.

Hidan rose from his place and I stood up as well, wondering what was gonna happen now. But not even for a million dollars would I have ever guessed what was really coming up.

I didn't even have the chance to take a step closer to the closet as someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Surprised I turned around and gasped at an angry face of Itachi.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked angrily and I just stared at him baffled.

"Uhhh… the closet?"

His eyes glistened with anger and he hissed, "You're coming with me."

"Wha-"

"What the #%$#^ you #$#^ doing?!" Hidan roared as he towered over me beside Itachi and grabbed my other arm.

Now I was starting to feel really weird. Is this how a teddy bear feels when he is pulled apart by two kids?

"I'm taking her back to my room," Itachi replied firmly. "Enough of these silly games!"

"Oh, YOUR room?!" Hidan raged on. "NO #$*&% way in ^$%*$& hell!"

"Come on, un," Deidara tried stepping in. "You can't just drag Liz away, Itachi!"

"Watch me," the Uchiha glared at Deidara and the latter cringed.

He then pulled me to himself and I glared at Itachi, at the same time struggling to get free, "I'm not going anywhere with you! And why is it now?! You can go in into the closet with Shikyo and then I can't do it with Hidan?!"

"That's right, you can't!" Itachi hissed at me angrily.

"Who the %& are you to #& order Liz around?" Hidan shouted angrily and finally Itachi's grip loosened on me and I managed to wriggle out.

"I was appointed by Pein to watch over her," Itachi replied angrily. "And that's exactly what I'm gonna do now."

"What?" I screamed at him. "Are you trying to be my nanny or something? I'm old enough to take care of myself!"

"Yeah, right," Itachi replied mockingly. "I don't think so."

"YOU! You-" I halted for a moment. "You're the biggest jerk in the entire universe!"

"And you're the most insolent being I ever happened to meet!" Itachi grumbled back and I felt like stabbing him with a few thousand needles. Perhaps, I should stop the time and go find those needles right now?

But then, our quarrel was interrupted by my friend Shikyo, who suddenly giggled like crazy and noted, "Oh, come on now, don't fight, you two love-birds…"

"Love-birds?!" Both me and Itachi turned to her in shock and then pure anger.

"Where in the world did you get that idea?!" I shouted at my friend baffled.

"Meh," she shrugged her shoulders. "Seemed like a lovers quarrel, that's all!"

"Un, you two are already sleeping together, after all," Deidara grinned cheerfully and I felt like banging him in the head a few times.

"YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH ITACHI?!" Shikyo screamed at me, her eyes wide in shock.

"NO ONE'S #$%$^ SLEEPING WITH #%#$ ANYONE!" Hidan fumed behind me.

"But Itachi WAS half naked with her in bed, u-OUCH!" I finally fulfilled my dream and banged Deidara in the head.

"NAKED?!" Shikyo screamed out again as she grabbed me by my shoulders while Hidan kept cursing somewhere in the background.

Yet, Hidan or Itachi were not the biggest problems I had for I knew Shikyo's love for Itachi could only be overtopped by her love for Gaara.

"Uhhh…" I uttered and smiled apologetically. "You can have Gaara?"

"Elizabetha Cornelia Anderson…" She breathed out huskily and I shut my eyes, preparing myself for the worst. "You ROCK, girl!"

Baffled I returned the hug Shikyo suddenly gave me as she shouted into my ear, "I can't believe you wrapped him up around your finger in merely few hours!"

"I think you're misunderstanding something here…" I muttered, glaring at Deidara, who scratched his head, grinning at me as always.

I did not even dare to lift my eyes to look at Itachi. I could already feel his murderous glare directed at me…

"Well, aren't we the best in this whole universe, eh, Liz?" Shikyo grinned happily as she lifted her hand up.

I giggled and brought my hand to hers, both of us shouting in unison, "High Five!"

Yet, to my and everyone else's utter surprise, my hand crossed only empty air as Shikyo disappeared into thin air with a slight popping sound.

My eyes widened in shock as I stuttered, "Sh-Shikyo?!"

But she was nowhere to be found and suddenly I had a feeling it would be quite a long time until I could hug her again…


	19. The Biggest Jerk in the Universe

**I see you are all very curious and worried about Shikyo, ne? :) I won't answer what had happened to her, because you will find it out quite soon, just in a few chapters. I am also curious to see your guesses, mwahahah. There were some very interesting ones! XD Well, if you think about it logically and take into consideration Liz's remote control powers, you should realize it soon. ;)**

* * *

As soon as the first shock passed over, I pushed past the surprised Itachi out of the room and into the corridor, grabbing my mobile out of my pocket. Rushing, I pressed the few buttons and waited for the signal. Beep… Beep… Beep…

"Damn it!" I cursed. "Pick up your phone, Shikyo!!!"

As if my words had some kind of a magical impact, I heard her voice and squealed with joy. Oh, thank God…

"Lizzy?" She asked uncertainly and I bobbed my head up and down enthusiastically.

"Yes! It's me, Shikyo!" I gripped the phone tighter. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so," she replied after a pause. "Though my head is pounding like crazy."

I sighed with relief, "The most important thing is that you're fine and alive. But where are you right now?"

"Mmm…" Shikyo kept silent for a while. "I think… a desert?"

"What?" I frowned in confusion. "Desert?"

"Well," she continued in a rather amused tone. "All I see is sand, sand, sand… and, guess what, sand again!"

"Drop the sarcasm, I'm serious here!" I muttered angrily. "I was so scared when you suddenly just disappeared…"

"I know," Shikyo said silently. "And I love you too, Lizzy."

I nodded, a smile playing on my lips, and leaned against the wall, "I wish you were here with me again."

"Oh, come on, you have Itachi with you!" Shikyo giggled. "I think he's into you. Like, totally."

"Wha-" I gaped. "No, he's not!"

"Oh, yes, he is…" Shikyo teased. "Did you see how jealous he got of Hidan? I bet he wanted to drag you into that closet himself!"

"Oh, the closet," I bit my lip. "Um… Shikyo?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you-" I paused and then shook my head. "No matter. Forget it."

"What?" Shikyo asked, surprise in her voice. "Lizzy?"

"Nothing, just nothing," I shook my head. There is no way I can ask her what she did in the closet with Itachi. I just… don't have enough guts to.

"Heh," Shikyo suddenly giggled. "Let me guess – you wanna know what happened in the closet?"

I gasped, "How?!"

"Liz, I've known you for about 10 years now," Shikyo answered amused. "You're like an open book to me."

I gulped. I didn't know I was that easy to read.

"As for the closet, nothing happened," she continued. "Well, except for Itachi scaring the shit out of me. He said he'd cut me in half if I even tried anything. I swear those were the longest seven minutes in my entire lifetime. I was so close to him, so damn close, that I could feel his scent and I couldn't even touch him!"

"Really?" I breathed out, my heart skipping with immense joy.

"You could at least TRY not to sound happy," Shikyo mumbled and I chuckled, apologizing.

I wasn't sure what came over me. I just felt so… so oddly content, relieved and joyful. How queer…

I shook my head and said into the handset, "Look, I think we must figure out how to get you back first."

"Get back WHOM?" A cold voice said just behind me and I flinched.

Itachi.

I turned to face him and I looked up at him carefully. He was as expressionless as one could be, but his cold eyes were boring into mine almost piercingly.

"Umm," I beamed a smile at him. "I'm talking to Shikyo right now, so…"

Something flashed in his dark eyes and he averted his gaze towards the cellular I was holding in my hand. For a moment I thought there was a flare of anger in his orbs and then suddenly he said, "You were holding this thing the time she crashed down too."

"Uh, yeah?" I nodded, unsure as to where it was all heading to.

"Liz? Who are you talking to?" Shikyo asked into the phone and I shook my head.

"Itachi, it's only Itachi," I replied to her. "Just wait a min-"

However, I was interrupted in mid-sentence as suddenly Itachi grabbed my wrist and pressed it tightly. I yelped and then his other hand pried my mobile phone out of my fingers. Shocked I watched him do it, unable to understand his reasons or train of thoughts. I heard Shikyo shout into the phone, wondering if I was ok and I glared at Itachi angrily.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shouted at him and the ninja sneered.

He looked at the handset almost curiously and then his eyes narrowed down on it as he said, "I don't need any more of your so called annoying friends dropping over."

Confused I stared at him and then I heard a sharp cracking sound and my eyes widened with horror as I realized he was crushing my mobile with his hand. It took very little effort to him and in mere seconds pieces of my dearest phone fell down to the floor. The signal disappeared and I couldn't hear the voice of my friend Shikyo any longer.

"No," I shook my head disbelievingly. "No, no, no! This can't be!"

Itachi released his grip on me and I fell to my knees beside my crushed phone.

"Why the hell did you do this?!" I screamed at him. "You… you… you heartless JERK!"

Itachi merely stared down at me with no remorse whatsoever.

"Now I…" I teared up. "I can't even talk to her any more! You…"

I suddenly shot up in total rage and before Itachi could even react I slapped him in the face as hard as I could. The sound rebounded and echoed in the empty corridor and as Itachi turned to me, his eyes glowing with anger and humiliation, I suddenly realized what I did.

"Stop!" I screamed and everything around me froze.

I panted heavily from all the emotions I had and I took a few steps back, my eyes trailing to Itachi's arm reaching out to me. It seemed I made it just in time. But as I was walking backwards, my foot stepped onto something and it cracked beneath my weight. I glanced down only to find pieces of my mobile phone. Anger flushed all over me again and I grumbled in rage as I walked to Itachi and kicked him hard where no man wants to be kicked.

"Take that, you jerk!" I screamed at him and stomped out, tears streaming down my cheeks. I never knew I felt so lonely and alien in this world. And now, somewhere here there was my friend Shikyo, all alone and lost too. What's more, now I had no way of contacting her or finding her. I was all alone.

Angry, depressed, sad and humiliated I found my way out of the Akatsuki hideout and simply headed away from it, not even caring where to. I just ran into the forest, sobs rocking my body, all the emotions overflowing in my chest and head. I hardly gave any thought to it – I simply wanted to get away from everything and everyone…

* * *

Itachi's POV:

I snapped the moment she slapped me and reached out to grab her, ready to teach her a lesson or two about respect, but my arm merely touched empty air and at the same moment I felt an overly familiar pain between my legs. I bent down to the ground, gritting my teeth in anger. Why does she always have to kick me?! Every single time! That little runt... Oh, when I find her!

I stood up and looked around. I could bet she was already far away from here. At least, if I were her I'd run as far as I could. It won't be a pretty sight when I catch up to her. I smirked and headed out of the hideout. She can't have gotten far, not with that pathetic speed of hers. She can not run away from me. Ever.

Soon I was bolting across the forest, my eyes scanning the grounds even for the smallest details. Obviously, Liz was not a ninja. Far from it. She left such a clear trail behind her, it was the easiest trace I had ever seen. Though I was surprised at the distance she managed to cover in such a short time. But who knew, her powers were still a mystery to me. I could have been left frozen for days, but she released me in just a few hours. Was there a time limit to her powers? Hardly.

I shook my head and halted, having finally noticed the frail body of the girl, sitting on the ground. I jumped down without making even a sound and walked towards her, a smirk playing on my lips. There she was, so unsuspecting, so… vulnerable.

I frowned. She should be on her guard more. Really now, this girl has no idea how to hide or run. There was no trouble in finding her, but I'm not the only one roaming this forest. What if a wild animal attacked her? Or an enemy ninja? I stopped in front of her and quite surprised I realized Liz was asleep. She was sitting against the trunk of a tree, her head bowed to one side. Her eyes were closed, her face a bit pale and her eyelashes seemed so long and dark. I knelt beside her, noticing her cheeks were wet, traces of tears still visible. Was she crying? But why?

Just cause I broke that little thing she was calling a phone? I frowned slightly. Somehow, I didn't like the idea of her crying. Even more than that, I didn't like the fact that I was the one to hurt her. I let out a short sigh. I never thought it would hurt her so much. Now that I thought about it, she never really told me anything about her clan or her family. Did she have any? What about friends? It can't be that blond girl was her closest friend or something? I bit my lip slightly, as I tried remembering the feeling of having a friend. It was so long ago, I had already forgotten.

I shouldn't have done it.

But now it was too late for regrets. I picked up the girl gently, trying not to wake her up, and pressed her tighter to my chest. She was cold. Her body was freezing and I wondered if she had gotten sick from sleeping on the ground. I pressed my lips tighter together and jumped up onto the nearest tree, heading back to the hideout. Silly girl, you shouldn't have run away if all you were about to do was freeze to death.

I sped up and flashed across the forest in immense speed, holding her firmly in my arms. I was back in some ten minutes and I headed to my room immediately. Luckily, I didn't meet anyone on my way for I really had no wish to deal with Hidan or anyone else right now.

I pushed open the doors to my room and glanced at Liz in my arms. She was still sleeping soundly. She must be really tired. I lay her down on the bed gently and covered her up. My fingers traced the line of her cool cheeks, her skin so soft to the touch. I touched her forehead, but it wasn't hot and I sighed with some relief. How queer. This girl was so weird and she stirred up something deep inside of me. Something I thought I had buried on that fateful night in the Konoha Village.

I turned away and walked out quietly, mixed feelings struggling inside of me. What was I doing? What am I doing?

I have no right to awaken these feelings. I just don't.

* * *

**Yep, some drama and Itachi mushiness... Aw, come on, I know you like it! *smirks***


	20. The Morning After

**Wow, you guys are so cruel... Itachi is lucky Liz is not that revengeful. lol Well, on another note, Shikyo is finally making some real appearance and yes, she has powers! Some really unbelievable stuff, trust me on this one. XD Have fun reading! ;)**

* * *

I woke up in Itachi's room in his bed only later in the afternoon. I was so exhausted that I slept through half of the next day. When I finally got up, my anger was already gone and only the sorrow was left. I wanted Shikyo to be with me, I wanted to know if she was alright. If she ended up in a desert, she might be in trouble. I was sure she could take care of herself, but in a desert? There is no food or water, no basic necessities for a human to survive. I bit my lip and got out of the bed, my heart heavy with worry.

I walked to the bathroom and took a long bath, taking joy in the hot water. It cleared my head a bit and I stepped out of the room feeling refreshed. I needed to think of something else and so by now I started wondering how I got back to the Akatsuki hideout, but I just couldn't remember anything. I recalled how I bolted out of the hideout and ran across the forest without any goal in mind. Now that I thought about it, it was silly on my part, but back then I was too angry to care or think. In the end I fell asleep by some tree and that was the last thing I could remember.

I figured someone, most probably, Itachi Uchiha, found me and brought me back. I sighed and went out of the room, heading down to the ground floor. The corridors were empty, but I could hear voices somewhere in the kitchen and so I walked there quietly, trying to remain calm. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Deidara, Sasori and Hidan, who turned to me immediately. For a while they just stared at me quietly, as if unsure how to act.

Then, Deidara gave me a small smile, "Morning, un."

I returned the smile and nodded, greeting everyone, "Morning, everyone."

Sasori shifted in his seat almost uncomfortably and his calm eyes looked up at me, "I heard about your friend. I'm sorry."

I smiled and nodded again.

"Are you…" Hidan paused. "You ok?"

I averted my eyes at him and suddenly I felt so loved like never before in my life. These people were complete strangers to me, yet, I could see they cared about me and wanted me to be happy. They didn't even ask any questions or demand answers from me, they simply cared how I felt.

I smiled wider now, a polite smile slowly turning into a natural one, "Thank you, everyone."

They kept silent for a while and then Deidara came up and hugged me tightly.

"She'll be ok, I'm sure, un," he said and I returned the hug.

"#$*# yeah!" Hidan exclaimed. "Don't you #$*^! worry, you'll definitely see her some day again!"

I nodded and Deidara released me from his hug. Meanwhile, Sasori put a plate with some cold roast meat on the table and gave me a small smile, "Breakfast."

I giggled and sat down. Yeah, they're right. Shikyo can take care of herself. I refused to believe she was just gonna give up and die somewhere in an anime desert. No, no, not her.

I dug into my food and then another question came to my mind.

"So, um, where is Itachi?" I asked.

"He's gone on a mission with Kisame," Sasori said. "He should be back by tonight."

"Un," Deidara nodded. "And you know what?"

"What?" I asked as I stuffed the meat into my mouth.

"I heard you're getting a mission soon too, un," he replied with a wide smile.

I almost choked and I coughed heavily for some meat got stuck in my throat. "WHAT?!"

"The leader said you'll receive your first mission tomorrow," Sasori repeated and I shook my head disbelievingly. Already?!

Hidan snorted and cursed under his breath, "Yeah, and you're %$#$ going with #$%*)!$$% Itachi!"

"With Itachi?" I echoed. Well, that was no surprise. I knew Itachi would be there with me. There was no way Pein would let me go alone.

"#$%^ yeah," Hidan cursed again and I glanced at him reproachfully.

"Do you know what I'll have to do?" I turned to Deidara, but he merely shrugged.

"The leader discloses the mission information only to those who have to carry it out," he explained and I nodded. Figures.

I sighed and took another bite of my cold breakfast. I really should cook something tastier for these guys. No, wait, forget the food… I'm gonna go on a mission tomorrow!!! That can't be good. I gulped down the meat and shook my head. Oh, my, my, my… Surely, not all of the Akatsuki missions involve killing, do they? Perhaps, I'll just have to steal something or spy on someone?

Right?..

* * *

*** Meanwhile somewhere far far away into the desert ***

* * *

"URGH!!!" Shikyo kicked the sand with her foot angrily. "WHAT THE HELL?! I've been walking for the past 3 hours and there is absolutely NOTHING in here! I'm standing in a middle of nowhere! ARGH!!!!"

She kicked some more of the sand and then plopped down on it, tired.

"I'm tired, hungry and thirsty!!!" She screamed out. "This is SO UNFAIR! I want some cool powers too, just like Lizzy has…"

She whined some more and then laughed, "Though I think something to drink would come first… Damn, I wish I had some water on me…"

And then, suddenly - *SPLASH*

"What the-" Shikyo shot up, all wet, drops of water running down her face, her clothes half drenched. She felt as if a bucket of water was just poured down on her head…

She looked up, but the sky was clear and navy blue and there was nothing and no one around her.

"What the hell?" She whispered confused and looked around some more.

For a while she just stood, thinking what it was that she did or said and then she slowly repeated her exact words, "Though I think something to drink would come first…"

Nothing.

"I wish I had some water on me?"

*SPLASH*

"SHIT," she cursed and shook her head, her hair wet and glued to her face now. She brushed it away and cursed again. How silly was she to repeat the same mistake twice?

"So, now I'm in a middle of nowhere… and I'm drenched," she mumbled angrily and then shook her head. "No, no, Shikyo… think positive, positive. You need water to drink… and drinkable water is in where?.."

She thought for a while and then nodded to herself, "Ok, then. I wish I had… a glass of water?"

For a while she thought nothing was gonna happen but then she heard a strange whizzing sound and a glass of water dropped down right in front of her, missing her head by mere centimeters. Sadly though, the glass turned over and the water spilled down onto the ground. Shikyo cursed and shook her head.

"This wishing thingy sure has its faults," she mumbled and then wished again. "I wish I had a bottle of water."

Having said that she quickly stepped backwards and just in the right time for the bottle would have most definitely hit her in the head. But now she had a bottle of water…

Shikyo bent down and picked it up, then opened it and took a sip.

"Wow, real drinkable water!" She exclaimed surprised. "Ok, I don't care how I got this anymore, this power just ROCKS!!!"

She squealed in joy and licked her lips, her stomach grumbling in hunger.

"Ok, ok," she whispered. "Soooo…I wish I had a chicken!"

She closed her eyes, imaging the tasty roast chicken, but when she looked down she gasped and then frowned.

"Okaaay," she sighed. "This power really has some SERIOUS faults."

Right beside her feet there was a small and still very much alive chicken, its head turning to its sides in slight wonder as to where it actually was…

"Great," Shikyo nodded to herself. "So now I'm stuck in a desert in a middle of nowhere, sopped to the skin… and with a chicken. Just perfect."


	21. The First Mission

**Update again! The song used in this chapter is called _"__Have you ever seen the rain" _by _John Fogerty. _It'_s _a nice song, so listen to it if you happen not to know it. . Other than that, thank you all for the kind reviews and I hope you're up for a tiny bit of mushiness. ^^**_  
_

* * *

I sighed as I leaned against the wall in the training grounds. It was already late in the evening now and I had spent the day training with Hidan. He taught me some simple sparring moves and I thought I was doing rather well; at least considering it was my first time learning martial arts. At the same time, I could take my mind off of some not so pleasant topics, like Shikyo's disappearance or my upcoming mission with Itachi. Oh… Itachi… How was I gonna face him now?! I was still kind of angry at him and I was worried about my friend and the mission I would have to do. So many things buzzed inside my head that I suddenly felt myself diminishing and bending down beneath that pile of worries.

"Oh, shit, shit, shit," I cursed silently. "What am I gonna do now?"

I sat down and brought my knees to my chest, leaning my head back against the wall. I stayed like this for some time, feeling like I was on an emotional roller coaster – I got mad or sad or felt pitiful over and over again, as if unable to decide on my current mood.

During one of my half angry and half sad moments I heard footsteps and as I looked up, I realized Itachi was standing in front of me. I glared at him and wanted to snap at the Uchiha ninja, but then I noticed he was holding something in his hands. My eyes widened at recognition and my mind now was filled with countless questions.

"Is that… Is that a-" I held my breath and looked up at Itachi's face.

He was as expressionless as ever as if he didn't really care much and I couldn't read his eyes. But then he extended his arms towards me and I touched the stringed instrument he held with my fingers.

"Is that… for me?" I asked unsure.

He nodded and noted coldly, "Instead of that thing of yours I broke."

I took the instrument in my hands and ran my fingers across its strings. It was the same guitar-like instrument I had played back in the village. I smiled and my mood rose up quite a notch.

I glanced up at Itachi and raised my brow, my voice a bit mocking, "You're saying that you were feeling guilty for breaking my phone, so you ran around hopelessly looking for a guitar?"

Itachi glared at me sharply and hissed, "I do not feel guilty! And I did not run around – I just bought it from a street musician!"

"Oooohhh…" I grinned. "You bought it?"

"I-I did not!" Itachi suddenly shouted out. "I took it by force and killed the insolent human!"

"U-huh," I rolled my eyes. It was funny seeing Itachi so flustered and losing his cool though I wondered what caused him to be like this. But then again, who cares? He was clearly trying to apologize the only way he could think of and somehow I realized I found it rather cute.

"Why don't you just play it?" Meanwhile, Itachi grumbled and I smiled.

"Do you want me to?"

He kept silent and then hissed, "Do what you wish."

"Fine, fine, don't be so grumpy," I grinned, realizing my good mood was truly slowly coming back to me. It was rather weird, but right now I found myself quite comfortable around Itachi. Perhaps, it was due to the gift I just received or the fact that I was slowly getting to know him better.

"What do you wanna hear?" I asked him, but Itachi merely shrugged as he sat down beside me.

"Whatever suits you," he murmured and I chuckled, my fingers running along the strings, the sounds slowly forming into a melody.

_Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm_

_I know, it's been comin' for some time._

_When it's over, so they say, it will rain a sunny day_

_I know, shinin' down like water._

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_Comin' down, a sunny day._

_Yesterday and days before, sun is cold and rain is hard_

_I know, been that way for whole my time_

_Till forever on it goes through the circle fast and slow_

_I know, it can't stop, I wonder._

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_Coming down on a sunny day._

When I finished singing I glanced at Itachi beside me and he gave me a tiny smile. It was so small I would have missed it if I wasn't that close.

"You look good when you smile," I said and immediately his face returned to the cold mask.

"I don't smile," he said coldly.

"So I noticed," I giggled. "You should, though. I'd totally fall for you, then."

Itachi gazed at me, mildly surprised and then said, "I murdered my whole clan for power and you say you'd fall for me?"

I gulped and turned away. Whoops, seems like I just stepped on a land-mine.

"I just… I said what I was thinking," I finally muttered. "And it's not like you really wanted to kill them all. You had no choice, right? It was either them or everyone else."

I wasn't looking at Itachi, so I didn't see his shocked expression, but I did feel his hand gripping my shoulders painfully when he forcefully turned me to him.

"What did you just say?" He asked sharply, his eyes boring into mine as if trying to read my mind.

"N-nothing," I denied quickly, realizing I've just made a mistake. "I was just-"

"Just what?" Itachi narrowed his eyes on me. "How much do you really know?"

I gulped and tried smiling innocently, but his eyes were staring into mine so intently, I knew I wouldn't get out of this so easily.

"I just know some things," I whispered. "There is no reason and no deceit. I just know."

"What do you know?" Itachi asked slowly and I shook my head.

"Promise me you won't kill me first," I said and gazed at his dark black eyes.

He kept silent for a while and then he nodded, "I won't kill you, Liz."

I didn't know why, but I believed him. Somehow I felt that he really wouldn't harm me and so I turned my eyes away from his and replied in a low quiet voice, "I know why you annihilated your clan and why you left your brother alive. I know why you came here to the Akatsuki and I know you want to die."

I paused and then glanced back at him, whispering, "But, most importantly, I know you're not as evil as you make others believe you are."

Itachi was silent and so I stayed quiet as well. Then, suddenly, he released my shoulders and stood up briskly.

"You know some dangerous things," Itachi muttered. "Don't tell this to any other living soul and perhaps you'll live."

I gulped. Well, the future sure seems to be of great promise to me.

Itachi passed by me and halted at the entrance to the corridor. "Let's go, we need to visit Pein-sama for the details of your first mission."

Oh, riiiiight… the mission. Somehow, I totally forgot it. I nodded and rose up, taking the instrument with me. Itachi let me go up to my, um, our room first and leave it there before going to Pein's so called office and so I put the guitar beside the bed. I also went to the bathroom real quickly, just in case, and refreshed myself with a splash of water to my face. I made sure I looked good first and only then I headed out of the room.

Itachi did not say anything to me, so I figured I didn't take that much time. Or, he was very patient. We headed to Pein's room and I took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself. Oh, God, let it be stealing or spying. Stealing. Stealing. Stealing. I chanted to myself all the way to Pein's.

When we finally reached the doors, Itachi opened them and let me through first. Pein was sitting behind his desk, but he rose his head when he heard us enter and his lips stretched into a smirk as soon as his eyes landed upon me.

"Liz," he said quite contently. "I hope you're doing well in our organization."

Taken aback by the question, I nodded. "Yeah, um, thanks'."

"I heard you had an interesting friend come over?" Pein inquired and I cursed in my head.

"I-I'm sorry," I blurted out quickly. "She just… uh, dropped over completely unannounced."

I bit my lip. This is so not good. Not good.

"You don't need to be sorry," Pein said in almost a sweet voice. "If she has any similar talents as you, I'll welcome her gladly."

I kept quiet, unsure as to what to say. Should I admit that she is "talented" too? Or should I say she isn't? Which one?

"Apparently," Itachi intervened suddenly. "Her friend had to go back urgently and she won't be back for a while."

Pein narrowed his eyes on me, "Is that true?"

I quickly gathered myself and flashed a smile, "Yes, I'm afraid so. Urgent clan matters."

"Pity," Pein muttered after a short pause. "Do tell her she is more than welcome to visit us again."

"S-sure," I replied, smiling, though I felt a sting in my chest. Oh, how I hoped I could actually tell her that. But now was not the time to ponder about Shikyo. I myself was in quite a situation.

"You said you had a mission for us," Itachi said and right now I was rather thankful to him for the change of topic.

"Indeed," Pein nodded. "Consider this mission as a test, Liz. Complete it and our previous agreement will be in effect. Fail and you shall pay with your own life."

I merely nodded as if this was completely understandable, but inside I could feel my heart do somersaults.

"What am I to do?" I asked in a very matter-of-fact tone. I could only hope I sounded professional. Right now I needed to be strong.

"I need you to eliminate the head of the White Lily clan," Pein said and pushed an envelope across the table. "Here's all the information you need. Do be careful though, our informants say he has hired some bodyguards from Konoha. I hope they won't give you too much trouble."

I shook my head and grinned like an idiot, replying with an Italian accent, "No problemo."

"Good," Pein smiled. "Take your time and get rid of that man for good. I shall await your return impatiently."

I bowed slightly, took the envelope and walked out with Itachi following me. Yet, soon after I exited the room, I felt weak in the knees and so I leaned against the wall. So much for stealing. Shit. It was plain murder. I had to kill a man. Real or fiction, but I had to commit murder and that took away my breath.

"What's wrong?" I heard Itachi ask and shook my head vigorously. I can't let him know.

"Nothing," I replied in a whisper and continued down the corridor, my heart even heavier than before, only one word in my mind.

Murder.


	22. Basic Ninja Skills? Nonexistent

**I keep getting new readers every day . I am so glad! This story was truly a random idea on my part, but it's turning out really well, in the end. I suppose the craziest ideas are the best sometimes, lol. Anyways, the updates might get slower this week as I am a bit preoccupied with my newest original work. I am literally obsessed with it, so I can't help but put aside some other works. Sorry about that *bows in apology* And now, enjoy! ^^**

* * *

I plopped down on Itachi's bed and took out the papers in the envelope. Itachi rammed the wall in front of me, watching my face intently. The first sheet I took turned out to be a picture of a middle aged man with dark hair and a small beard. He seemed fit and rather strong, his eyes staring somewhere in the distance firmly. For a hand drawn picture, it was very well done.

"That's your target," Itachi said and I looked up to find him standing beside me now.

I nodded, biting my lip slightly.

"Do you think… he has family? Children?" I asked instinctively.

Itachi merely cocked a brow at my question, "Why would you care?"

I looked away, shrugging, "I don't."

"All you have to do is kill that man," he said narrowing his eyes on me and I nodded.

Perhaps, this was all a bad idea. A very very bad idea.

I took out the next folded paper and as I unfolded it I realized it was a map. It was rather big and so I put it down onto the ground, kneeling in front of it. As much as I could figure out, it was just a bunch of blue lines and colourful dots. I stared down at it somewhat baffled. I was never good with maps.

"Hmm, the security is rather tight, especially around the main house," Itachi noted. "We'll have to find a different way in. A disguise, perhaps?"

I looked up at him surprised. "How do you know that?"

"Know what?" Itachi cocked his brow questioningly.

"All that stuff about security and all," I said, staring at him awed.

"It's all in the map," he said somewhat surprised, motioning to the piece of paper on the ground.

"Really?" I looked down. "Where?"

For a while Itachi remained silent and then he said quietly, "Don't tell me you can't read maps?"

"Ehh…" I blushed in slight embarrassment. "Not everyone was born a genius, right?"

"Map reading is a basic skill every ninja is taught in his early childhood!" Itachi exclaimed and I shrugged.

"I guess I missed that one."

I heard him sigh and then he leaned forward and put his hand on the map, his fingers trailing along the blue lines. "The blue lines show the walls and outlines of the rooms. The spaces in the lines indicate the doors and the double lines - the windows. The green circles show places where the house can be broken into most conveniently. The digits over it indicate the correct time to do it which means there is a high probability of there being no witnesses at that moment and the number of the black sticks on the respective circles signifies the risk level of being noticed. The red dots here and here indicate possible guards or ninjas and the red dots with a white center mean that the enemy ninjas are of high level."

I nodded, "Oh… I see."

"Do you, Liz?" Itachi glared at me. "Do you really?"

I kept silent for a while and then coughed uncomfortably, "Um, no?"

The Uchiha ninja merely sighed as he put his hand over his eyes, "Unbelievable."

"But there sure are many red dots with a white center on it," I noted, trying to say something smarter.

Then, I remembered what it meant.

"That can't be good, can it?" I whispered, finally realizing just what I've gotten myself into.

"That's why I said the security was tight," Itachi noted and rose up. "At least you got one thing memorized."

I shrugged, "I'm not a total idiot, you know."

"Sure you're not," Itachi said sweetly and grinned at me. I shuddered.

"I don't like it when you smile like this," I finally said. "You look so menacing."

"I know," he grinned even wider at me and motioned with his hand. "Put the map away, I'll explain it to you later. We'll have enough time for that on our way to the household of the White Lily clan."

I nodded obediently and folded the map the way it was, feeling glad I could at least do that. At least, on my second try. Good thing Itachi was facing the other way or I would have died from embarrassment.

The rest of the evening went by rather smoothly and calmly and I didn't have much time to think about my own future. What did occupy my thoughts; however, were Shikyo and her fate. I could only hope she was fine and alive, no matter how hopeless things sounded. I refused to believe she was gone and so I calmed my heart, reminding myself my friend was a smart one. Actually, even smarter than me and when it came to Naruto, Shikyo was surely the expert in this field…

* * *

*** Meanwhile far far away in the desert ***

* * *

"Great," Shikyo nodded to herself. "So now I'm stuck in a desert in a middle of nowhere, sopped to the skin… and with a chicken. Juuuust perfect."

"Puck puck puck…PUCK!"

"Stop pecking me, you stupid bird!"

"Puck puck puck puck…PUCK!"

"Urgh!" Shikyo yelled in aggravation falling down onto the sand in defeat, a deep frown at her lips as she stared up at the bright blue sky.

"This sucks, I don't see any civilization miles from here," she commented out loud, her eyes skimming around looking for any sign of life. ANY.

Suddenly, grains of sand flew over her, landing on her face and mouth and Shikyo sat up quickly, spitting out the grains that had managed to drop into her mouth. She stuck out her tongue wiping at it furiously, her gaze landing on the chicken beside her. The bird was trying to dig a hole, clawing energetically at the sand with its skinny legs, throwing all of it in Shikyo's face. Her blood boiled, face turning red, mainly from the heat, but the anger wasn't helping either. The blond jumped to her feet, pointing an accusing finger at the chicken.

"That's it! I have had it with you, chicken!" Shikyo reached out and grasped the bird by the neck and the chicken let out a cry of protest, flapping its wings frantically. Shikyo growled and wrapped her other arm around the chicken's body, hugging it to her chest and trapping it there. Shikyo laughed loudly, sticking her tongue out at the chicken in her arms, she moved in close, looking smugly at the chicken.

"There, I will like to see you get out of that! I'll cut you to pieces and grill you in just a mere second!"

The bird stared at Shikyo crossly as she continued to grin almost maniacally and then it swiftly bit her right in the nose.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

* * *

…

* * *

"It's so hot…"

"Puck…"

"Need air…conditioner…"

"…puck."

"Gah! If there only was at least SOME civilization nearby, I'd be in seventh heaven!" Suddenly the desert around her disappeared in a blink of an eye and Shikyo felt as if she was circling in some kind of a whirlpool. It felt much like before she ended in the desert and for a moment she wondered if she was gonna end up in a vast ocean this time. Knowing her luck....

Yet, as the view cleared and her head stopped pounding, she found herself in the middle of a bazaar.

"Huh? Where am I?" The girl questioned loudly, hugging the chicken close to her body as she gazed at her surroundings. The chicken's eyes were wide as well as it cocked its head from side to side.

"HEY, YOU! THIEF!" Shikyo nearly jumped at the sudden loud voice she heard and she looked down at the chicken in her arms. It seemed to be as lost as she was.

"Looks like someone is in trouble, I wonder who it is," Shikyo thought out aloud, an almost evil smile at her lips, as she turned the direction of where she heard the voice only to lock eyes with a pair of angry ones.

"YOU! GIRL! GIVE ME BACK MY CHICKEN!" A man was yelling and pointing at Shikyo, running at her. Shikyo pointed at herself, gazing down at the chicken.

"I am the thief?" She grinned and looked up at the man, "YOU HAVE IT WRONG SIR! I HAVE NOT STOLEN YOUR CHICKEN!"

"NO, I AM NOT WRONG! THAT'S MY CHICKEN!"

Shikyo's eyebrow furrowed in frustration gazing behind the chubby man and his collection of poultry in a cage.

'_Wow, they look almost like my chicken.' _

"Guards! Guards!" Shikyo looked left to right as at the alarm of the chubby sales man soldiers with sharp spears and white robes appeared. The robes were somewhat familiar to her, but Shikyo gulped more at the shiny pointy blades.

"I think this is our cue to run."

"Puuuck!"

Shikyo quickly pivoted on her foot and dashed ahead ignoring the protest of the poultry man and trying to get away from them as far as she could.

"Stop, girl!" one of the guards yelled from behind Shikyo and she increased her pace as the chicken bounced in her arms letting out cries of distress.

"Stop whining, chicken! This is all your fault, you are lucky I didn't leave you there to- KYA!" A scream ended Shikyo's sentence when she didn't see where she was going, her foot tripped over a plank of wood, sending her flying forward and right in to a cart, a cart full of dirt… at least she thought it was dirt. Shikyo's head was buried deep into the soft wet dirt, spitting and spluttering as she tried to sit up, but ended up sinking further into the slimy mud, until finally she got her balance.

"Yuck! What the heck is this?" Shikyo questioned furiously wiping at the mud staining her entire face. She looked up to find a sign plastered against the wall beside the cart.

Sunagakure 100% pure Manure

Shikyo deadpanned a mushroom sigh escaping her lips.

'_Can my life get any worse?' _

"Oh, that was easy," she heard a comment next to her. The guards had found her and surrounded the entire cart, pointing the ends of their spears at her. Shikyo sighed again.

"Get a bucket of water! And can someone fish out the chicken?" One of the guards asked and Shikyo's eyes widened remembering her travel buddy.

She looked to the left to find a pair of frantically moving skinny yellow legs sticking out of the manure, and a guard reached over and pulled up one of the legs, a ball of slimy feathers attached to it.


	23. Insomnia

**Thanks' for the reviews, everyone! :) Here's another update for you all. I admit it isn't the best chapter I have written, but I felt it was needed. Yes, you have guessed right - major mushiness ahead. This is a love story, after all. Even if it is a comedy most of the time. XD Also, the song used is _Lullaby_ by _Creed._**

* * *

I let out a low grunt as I heard Itachi shift. Was he uncomfortable? Well, duh. Surely sleeping on the hard floor can't be compared to the soft bed I was lying on… Well, not so soft, perhaps. But still, a bed is a bed. I stole a glance at him and he turned over on his other side again.

Meh, it's his own fault he chose the floor. I was quite surprised when he suddenly said that I should sleep on the bed. I never saw him as a gentleman, but Itachi explained to me that it was all my own inexperience and weakness that I had to get a good rest before the journey. According to him, he was used to sleeping on the ground. Well, I decided to keep it a secret that in my home world I was quite fond of trips and camping. No need for him to know I enjoyed the starry sky above my head.

As I contemplated he shifted again and I heard him let out a short sigh. It was so short and silent I even thought I might have misheard it. I shrugged it off and closed my eyes, trying to cast myself into sleep. For a few minutes it was silent and then I heard Itachi roll over to his other side again. It was already the 102nd time he did it this night. It really was, no kidding. I've been counting.

"Can you, PLEASE, lie still for at least 5 minutes so I can fall asleep?" I asked, sarcasm seeping from my voice.

He merely grumbled something, his back now turned to me and I sighed, rolling on my back, facing the ceiling. We both lay silent for a few more minutes and then Itachi turned over once again.

"103," I murmured silently and then turned on my right side to take a closer look at him.

He was laying on his back now, his eyes slightly open. His face had a strange expression of sadness and regret, his lips pressed tightly together. I stared at him quietly, wondering how strong and, yet, fragile Itachi truly was. Always wearing a mask, always hiding, always caring about those who hated him with all of their hearts. Was he regretting what he had done? Was he thinking over and over the moment he changed the fate of his whole clan? Was he wishing for a different kind of life?

Itachi closed his eyes, but his hands were pressed into tight fists and suddenly, more than ever, I realized even the infamous Itachi Uchiha was but a man. A man no different from any other, no different from me.

"Say, Itachi," I said quietly, my voice barely a whisper. "Do you know what the difference between a heart of a killer and a heart of a farmer is?"

He lay silent for a while as if he was seriously considering my question and then his head turned to me, his eyes boring into mine somewhat confused, "I do not."

I smiled at him almost gently as I whispered, "There is none."

He stared at me baffled and I turned on my back once again, looking at the white ceiling of the room. Now, in the darkness of the night, it was barely grey.

"Why are you telling me this?" Itachi asked his voice close to an angry one.

I kept silent for a while and then replied with another question, "Are you regretting what you've done that night? Would you do it differently if you could go back in the past?"

The Uchiha ninja remained quiet for quite a long time and I even thought he was not going to answer, but then he finally whispered in a hoarse but firm voice, "No."

I smiled gently, "Me neither."

I could feel his gaze on me and so I added hastily, "If I were you, that is. I would have done the same, most surely."

I remained silent for just a second and then added, "Given that I was as strong as you, of course."

"Which I'm not," I suddenly said as if confirming it again.

A moment of silence once again befell the room and then I whispered, "Cause I'm weak."

Both of us lay silent once again and I turned my head to look at Itachi. He rustled once again and turned to his left side, now facing me. I sat up in the bed and bent down to reach for my newly acquired guitar. Itachi watched me warily as I sat Turkish style on the bed and took the instrument in my hands. Now that I thought back, even though I argued and teased Itachi a lot, how come he was the one that knew what I needed most back then?

"What are you doing?" He asked, staring at me confused.

"Helping you to fall asleep," I replied and gave him a warm smile as my fingers ran across the guitar strings gently. Perhaps, Itachi Uchiha is not as bad as he seems to be. Even murderers have hearts, right?

My fingers tugged at the strings lightly as I thought of what to sing. Sadly, I did not know many lullabies, but I did remember one I enjoyed singing ever since I heard it. Soon, a soothing melody filled the room and I sang in a tender and soft voice…

"_Hush, my love, now don't you cry,_

_Everything will be all right,_

_Close your eyes and drift in dream,_

_Rest in peaceful sleep…_

_If there's one thing I hope I've shown you,_

_If there's one thing I hope I've shown you,_

_Hope I've shown you…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Oh my love... in my arms tight,_

_Every day you give me life,_

_As I drift off to your world,_

_Rest in peaceful sleep…_

_I know there's one thing that you've shown me,_

_I know there's one thing that you've shown me,_

_That you've shown me…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Just give love to all…_

_Let's give love to all…_

_Let's give love to all…"_

I fell silent and looked down at the floor, where Itachi lay. He was lying calmly now, his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips. His breathing was smooth and even and I smiled to myself. Seems like this helped, after all.

I put down the guitar with as little noise as I could and then lay down on the bed, drifting to sleep myself.

* * *

I yawned and stretched my arms up in the air. It was early morning, like 6am or something and I was out of the Akatsuki hideout. The sun was shining rather brightly and as I looked up at the sky, I smiled at its vast blueness. I could hear the birds chirping and the tops of the trees swayed in the wind, though I could feel only a slight breeze. It was a good morning. A bright, vivid and energetic one. I felt as if I could do anything, anything at all!

"Stop daydreaming for once," I heard Itachi's voice and frowned. Why oh why does he always have to ruin everything?

"We're heading out," he added and let out a low grunt, when Hidan suddenly popped out beside me.

Interesting, but Hidan gave me a short smile and I grinned back. Weird. He was way different from what I expected him to be. But meh, who cares…

Apparently, Itachi did.

"I still insist in you staying here," he muttered. "There is no need for you to tag along."

Hidan merely scoffed and swung his scythe behind his back, "I got a $#%^ permission!"

"Did you, now?" Itachi mused.

"$^$&(# I DID!" Hidan snarled back. "YOU #%#&*&* DOUBTING ME?!"

I rolled my eyes and headed forth towards the forest, "Catch up with me when you're done, guys!"

However, I was stopped by their voices in unison, "Wrong way, Liz."

"Shit," I cursed and whirled around, chuckling sheepishly. "Hehe, I knew that."

Itachi merely shook his head in disapproval and turned around, walking away. Hidan, for once, waited for me and we trotted after Itachi along the forest trail.

Actually, I was surprised too when Hidan showed up and told us he'd be coming with us on Pein's orders. Why would Pein send him together with us? Why not Kisame? And why in the world did Hidan look… happy?..

I could not believe I actually used the words _Hidan _and _Happy_ in one sentence, but he did seem incredibly joyful. But, hey, a Jashin believer… happy?

Boy, was this world finally nearing its doom or what?..


	24. On the Trail

**Hey, everyone, sorry for taking such a long break from updating, but I was overly busy with work. To make the matters worse, my entire inspiration went to my original Dragons story, so yeah, poor Itachi was cast aside. He is kind of mad at me, but we will work it out XD As always, thank you for all your support and please enjoy this chapter, however crazy it might be ^^**

**The song used is _Say You Say Me_ by Lionel Richie**

* * *

"Say you, say me," I spun around, coupling my hands behind my back and walking backwards. "Say it for always, that's the way it should be."

"Come on, guys, join me!" I grinned and pointed my finger at Itachi, who gave me a death glare and then ignored me ceremonially.

"Say you, say me," I continued nevertheless, grinning like an idiot, "say it together, naturally! Come on, Hidan, you can do it!"

Yet, Hidan merely coughed into his palm, apparently feeling out of place and Itachi rolled his eyes, grumbling, "Would you stop singing already?"

"NO!" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Come, guys, sing with me! This is easy! Right, Hidan?"

Hidan coughed again, a light blush crossing his features, "It is… catchy."

"Right? Right?" I grinned and turned around again with my back to the guys, continuing with the song. "As we go down life's lonesome highway, seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two. That helping hand, someone who understands when you feel you lost your way. You've got someone there to say - I'll show you."

I whirled to face them again, flailing my hands up, "Come on, sing along with me, guys! Say you, say me, say it for always... Itachi, your turn!"

"I am NOT going to sing," Itachi hissed at me and I giggled.

"Ohhh, scaaary!" And then, I continued on, walking backwards with my hands behind my head. "Say you, say me, say it together, naturally!"

"Don't walk like that, you'll fall," Itachi grumbled at me and I shrugged, grinning like an idiot.

"Nah, I wo-" and then, I stumbled on my feet and landed oh so gracefully on my butt. "Ouuuch!"

"^&$#%#$%, Liz!" Hidan flashed stepped towards me, but he was late by a second or two as I was already being hauled up by Itachi's strong arms.

"Told you," he muttered smugly as his eyes glanced me up and down as if he was looking whether I had injured myself.

"Liz, you $%#$^ alright?" Hidan grabbed my right hand and I looked up at him, shaking my head.

"I FELL and my butt hurts!" I exclaimed angrily. "So, no, I'm not alright!"

"If you can yell like this, then you're more than fine," Itachi grinned mockingly at me and let go of my left arm that he was holding up to now.

I gave him a short glare and stuck my tongue out childishly. "Whatever."

I could tell he rolled his eyes at me as he continued walking forth and I had no other choice but to follow him. We walked in silence for about five minutes for that was the longest I could take it.

"You know, this is kind of fun!" I suddenly exclaimed. "It's like a trip!"

"This is not a trip," Itachi grumbled. "This is a mission."

"Yes, yes, I know that!" I giggled. "But still… Oh, I know!"

I skipped to Itachi and tugged his sleeve. He gave me a full glare, but I chose to ignore it. It's not like he can kill me now, can he? We're partners, right? Comrades!

"Aren't you curious? I just got a cool idea!"

"I don't want to know," he grunted and I rolled my eyes, turning to Hidan, who caught up to us and was walking on my right.

"Hidan, you wanna know, right?"

Hidan glanced at me and nodded, his purple eyes falling on me somewhat curiously. I released Itachi's sleeve and went on to wrap my arm around Hidan's elbow. Itachi merely sneered at my actions and Hidan glanced at our interloped arms perplexed.

"Let's play a game!" I exclaimed gleefully.

"I think not," Itachi replied immediately and I scowled.

"Spoilsport!"

"What kind of…" Hidan paused as he gulped down a row of curses and cocked his head almost cutely to a side, "game?"

"Weeeell," I drawled on, thinking. "Maybe a game of words?"

"Words?" Hidan asked and I released his arm as I skipped a few steps forth.

"Yes," I whirled around. "I say a word and Hidan must say a word beginning with the, let's say, second letter of my word and then Itachi says a word beginning with the second letter of Hidan's word and so on and on!"

Itachi cocked his brow wonderingly and Hidan furrowed his forehead as he seemed to be thinking.

"Alright, I'll start!" I exclaimed. "Sun!"

I glanced at Hidan and waved my hand. "Now you, Hidan. Say a word from a letter U."

"Unsurpassable."

"Ah… good, good," I grinned and turned to Itachi. "Now you, Itachi. Something from N."

For a moment, I thought he was not gonna join in, but then suddenly Itachi grinned and turned to me, smirking.

"Nauseating."

"Ah…" I chuckled sheepishly. No insult intended, right? "Um, great! Nauseating, huh… um… Avocado!"

I turned to Hidan and the ninja smiled almost happily as he replied, "Vivisection."

"Idolater," suddenly, Itachi glared at Hidan and the latter glowered back as he retorted almost immediately.

"Dead-weight."

"Hey, that was-"

"Ego-tripper," Itachi hissed back.

"Guilt-ridden," Hidan halted in his tracks, his eyes dark purple.

"-my-"

"Unworthy," Itachi stopped too, turning to Hidan.

"-turn," I looked at the two dully.

"Naff!"

"Abomination."

"Backstabber!"

"A-"

"ARGH, enough!" I screamed and the two finally turned their attention to me. "What are you two doing?"

"Playing," Itachi grinned and turned away, continuing walking.

"*#&%$*&, what a *%$**& awesome game," Hidan added as he followed after Itachi.

I only grumbled as I ran after them. "Apparently, this one is no good for you two."

"Why?" Itachi smirked. "I thought it was perfect."

"*&#$, let's do that again!" Hidan grinned and I shook my head hastily.

"No! No, no, I know a better game!"

"OH?" Hidan practically lit up with joy and I wondered if it really was such a good idea.

"Yeaaah," I said. "We're gonna create a story together! We can say only one word at a time and we need to do that in order. So, I will start."

I made a pause as the two guys stared at me expectantly. Now, something completely innocent…

I smiled, "A bunny! Itachi, you!"

The ninja narrowed his eyes as he replied, "Was."

"FUCKING!" Hidan grinned from ear to ear and I gave him a dull look. Perhaps, this was a bad idea, after all.

"Um," I paused. "Cute?"

"And," Itachi said.

"BLOODY!"

"Ah… from…"

"Killing," Itachi grinned and glanced at Hidan.

"HIS **(#(&$^&#*$^&!"

"Hey, that's three… uh, five words?" I intervened, but it was too late as Itachi cut in again.

"-bunny friend!"

"And it &$(#$&$&*#(*&-"

"-bled-"

"until its &*((^*^*#$^*("

"-painful-"

"-and &*(#&%(&* agonizing-"

"-demise."

")*%#(&*%), YEAH!" Hidan laughed almost in a maniacal way as he yelled out. "I )(*%(#&* LOVE YOUR GAMES, LIZZY!"

I rolled my eyes as I replied, "Oh, yeah? I know another one."

"OH, ^%$^# cool! What the &*(&$#* is it?"

"It's called the SILENCE game!" I hissed as I walked forth quicker.

"Huh?" Hidan cocked his head in confusion as he seemed to contemplate the non-existent rules of the new game.

"Well, finally," Itachi grumbled as he smirked, enjoying the short-lived silence.

"(&*&#$, this is not fun!" Hidan exclaimed after short five minutes. "Liz, we need a ^&%(( new game!"

I merely looked away as I retorted grimly, "I'm not playing with you."

"#&%$*#&*& WHAT? WHY?"

"I wonder," I rolled my eyes and then glared at Itachi, who was smirking joyfully. "It's your fault, Itachi!"

He did not reply and I scowled as I ignored the whining and cursing Hidan on my right. They were such babies.

"Hey, when will we reach the place?" I turned to Itachi again, waiting for response.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I screamed out in frustration. "Does that mean… we're… camping?"

Itachi smirked at me. "Why? Scared of the woods at night?"

"No," I grunted as I turned away.

Great. Camping at night in the middle of the woods with two crazy guys. Ohhh, just great.

* * *

*** Somewhere far away in the desert town ***

* * *

Shikyo rammed her head with her propped up hands as she stared at the dull and grey walls surrounding her. The moment she was caught she was put into jail to await her court, but apparently it was not going to happen anytime soon.

At first, she thought of escaping, but then she remembered this was THE Sunagakure. THE SUNAGAKURE. Meaning… GAARA WAS HERE!

She squealed at the thought and clapped her hands in joy. That was the only thing that kept her through the night. But by now, her enthusiasm had already worn off. The night in the jail was not as fun as she would have imagined. She was too scared to wish for a comfortable king-sized bed fearing it might actually hit her in the head, so yeah, huge and heavy things were out of question. She did wish herself a royal supper though. It was fantastic. A bit mixed with dirt as she did not catch the flying plate with the roast in time, but still very edible.

But, coming back to now and here, Shikyo was still in a jail cell and her chicken taken away from her. She was bored out of her mind and now that it was clear that Gaara was not that enthusiastic to deal with a lowly thief, she realized she had to find him herself. Or do something even bigger than stealing a chicken. Which she did not, by the way. She simply wished it away, right? That's not stealing.

"Let's see," Shikyo mused. "Hm. I wish I was out of this jail."

Nothing.

"Uhuh, thought so," she sighed. "Then, what else did I say?.. Hmmm. If there was civilization… What followed after it?.."

She thought for a short moment and then added, "Ah, seventh heaven!"

Immediately, her view blurred and in another short second she found herself back in the very same bazaar at the very same spot she landed yesterday.

"Ohhhh…" she mused. "I see… Numbers? Maybe…"

She furrowed her brows as she walked across the court, looking at the passing people. It was early morning and people were just putting up their stalls. It was good the guard did not bind her hands. Apparently, he did not consider her dangerous. Shikyo laughed out when she thought how easy it was to get out of jail. She would have given anything to see the faces of the guards when they found the cell empty. Now that should be beyond funny.

"Hmm, maybe I should take back my chicken too," she wondered and smiled. "Ok, I'll try! I wish I had my chicken back with me!"

"Puuuck!"

The girl stepped back just in time to catch the poor bird and it cocked its head wonderingly at recognition.

"Ah, welcome back, chicken!"

"Puck."

"Stick with me and you'll be the first free chicken in the Naruto World!"

"Puuuck?" The bird moved its head sideways and stared up at the blond with its beady eyes.

"Fine, whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Do a good deed and all they say in return is 'puck'."

"Puuuck."

"Yeah, yeah, puuuuuck," Shikyo mimicked the bird and it flapped its wings almost as if agitated.

"Puuuck!"

Shikyo stared at it for a moment. It was almost as if the chicken was correcting her pronunciation of chicken squeaking.

"Do that again and I'll grill you," she hissed at him. "NO chicken will be teaching me how to puck, ok?"

"Puck," was the curt reply and Shikyo nodded her head, grinning.

"That's better. Now then, what should we do, hm?"

She looked around and smirked. "Something to attract attention, perhaps? How can I pass up my opportunity and not meet Gaara, mm?.."

* * *

**Disclaimer: No bunnies were hurt in the making of this chapter. I swear. *nudges Hidan* Hey you, swear on it too!  
**


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